Life and Death are Strange
by Bloodspot
Summary: Blackwell is a Prestigious Academy with secrets. Join its students as they strive to uncover the hidden truth. See how opposites attract and how Aaron Heartfield, who some concider a male Rachel Amber, effects everything. A unique entitiy, follow him on his journey to fit in and how he has to fight that dreaded teen angst. Will he make friends, enemies or even sweethearts? Pairing!
1. Chapter 1-Aaron

Life and Death are Strange

 _ **A/N:- Just wanna start by saying thanks to all those who take the time to read this, it means a lot. I've had this idea in my head for a long time and with help from "Nothing You Can Prove" (you guys should check her out, her LiS stories are amazing!) I decided to go with it and upload. The first chapter will be confusing but the second one is almost done and obviously, the more chapters you read, the more sense it'll make. Enough of my bleagh and enjoy!**_

Chapter 1: Aaron

-"No Victoria, excuse us. I'd never let one of photography's future starts avoid handing in her picture!" Mr Jefferson said as he turned to Max.

-"I'm on top of it. I think it was John Lennon who once said 'Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans'" Max replied. She had heard Mr Jefferson use that one before when she was walking the halls of Blackwell.

-"Max, you're on fire today, all the right answers. Good. Make sure you finish working on it by today, I have faith in you"

Mark Jefferson was one of the main reasons Max Caulfield returned to Arcadia bay in the first place. He was something of a pop icon that played a hand in indirectly inspiring Max to become a photographer in the first place.

Max smiled back at him and hurried out the door. She had made plans to meet Chloe at the junkyard after class to have some downtime after the stressful annoyance that is Monday. This left only Mr Jefferson, Victoria, Kate and Aaron Heartfield left in the room.

Aaron was a relatively new student who had been at Blackwell for about two weeks now. He moved to Arcadia from Portland after his dad got a new job that paid more money. He was a skinny boy who had long,(For a boy) straight hair that crawled across the side of his head like it was trying to escape the top of his ears, which were also covered by hair, aswell as his fringe covering his right eye, leaving only one large, dark blue eye left. The rest of his hair wasn't very thick; it just matched in length, what it did thickness so it wasn't bushy and had started to ever so slightly cover the top of his collar on the back of his neck. He wore a black jacket with a white zip and white pull strings around the hood, a black t-shirt with a faded, cryptic picture of a hooded grim reaper with a scythe that was white to match the black that was the t-shirts base colour, black skinny jeans with a spider-man belt and black converse with white laces and rubber soles. He had his sleeves rolled up to reveal a black Rolex watch on his left hand.

He sat opposite to Max, at the other end of the table but had his chair turned around to listen to the lecture

Seconds after Max left, Aaron turned his attention to Kate who sat with her back to Mr Jefferson and had her face in her drawings, as usual. Aaron pulled his char up so that he was on Kate's right and bent over and picked up the ball of paper that Taylor had thrown at her and studied it in its spherical form. It had tweaked his interest and who knows, his intellectual mind might be able to make something positive out of something so negative.

-"Aren't you gonna open it?!" Kate asked without turning her head; she wasn't in the mood for this today so she just gave a blunt answer and carried on drawing.

-"No, just thinking about something-Hey, Mr Jefferson, do you mind if I light this on fire so I can take a pic of it?" Aaron asked as he turned twards his teacher and held the ball up "I'll put it straight out, I swear" he spoke in a soft voice and when he asked the question, he said it as if it was perfectly normal to just light shit on fire in the middle of a classroom.

-"Go ahead Aaron, just be careful" Mr Jefferson replied before turning back to Victoria. He seemed delighted to get away from the conversation he was just having, and devastated to return to it, even if he didn't really give much thought into his answer, hell, he just said it was ok for a student to light fire to something.

Happy with the answer, Aaron placed the ball on the table in front of him, took a black Zippo out of his pocket and lit the top of the ball on fire. The top third of the ball had a flame on it and had turned black. Aaron took out his Canon EOS 750D DSLR and took a picture of the flaming ball, turned the camera left, took another photo and then a third and final one back in the landscape position.

Kate took a small glance to her right side to see what was happening. Her view was clouded with a redish-orange colour when she realised this kid had literally just lit the ball of paper on fire!

After taking the photos, Aaron grabbed his glass of water off his desk and dropped the flaming ball of paper in it which quickly reduced it to a wet ball of paper. He liked to capture moments like this because he could use them to describe meanings and feelings plus he liked the challenge of coming up with a good backdrop to draw behind it.

-"There, now whatever was on that piece of paper will remain a mystery, just like death" Aaron said before looking at Kate with his one eye "You look as if you've cried a thousand waterless tears, you ok?"

-"You mean to tell me you don't know?!" Kate asked as she turned to face him. She found this new kid a little weird, considering he just lit a ball of paper on fire, on her desk, like it was nothing.

-"Know what?" Aaron replied; his voice with a sentient, charismatic tone which screamed of authority that wasn't wanted. He wanted to see what had caused a girl like Kate to be full of hostility.

-"The humiliating video someone took of me while I was at a Vortex Club party"

-"So you're Kate Marsh"? Aaron asked once again. He kind of felt bad for how he said his last words, it made him seem like an asshole.

-"See, that video!" Kate spat back as she turned her head to back to her drawings

-"...Doesn't mean I watched it" Aaron said after a pause as he looked at the photo on his camera.

-"How could you not?! It's 'absolutely hilarious' (!)" Kate replied, still not looking away from her drawings. She didn't know this new boy but from what she could tell, he was just a liiittle insensitive.

Aaron didn't mean harm, he could kind of see why she was pissed off at him but had he intentionally provoked her? No, he just wanted to know an answer to a question. Then again, from what he had heard, she had every right to be pissed at him. How was she supposed to know what kindness was when all she has probably had for the past few weeks is un-thought abuse.

Aaron thought of his next moves carefully; he knew that this could end in two ways. Kate gets the message of positivity he's trying to get across to her, or she takes it the wrong way and hates him. Fuck it, why not?!

-"Let me put it like this; You have a symbol" Aaron said as he pointed to Kate's cross around her neck "Now I'm just guessing but I'm gonna say that you don't believe in doing anything outside of love or y'know, for a cheap hook up. So the only logical explanation is that you weren't yourself, therefore, why would I watch something you clearly don't want people seeing?! I wouldn't want it done too me" Aaron stated, in the same, chilled out tone he'd been using all morning "I'm not gonna judge you on some sleazy video that was taken of you; I'd much rather get to know you for myself and see what type of person you are. So please, a little less hostility would be nice next time" Aaron said as he chuckled at the last part of his sentence.

-"Well, you're not wrong" Kate said, finally turning away from her drawing "What makes you say that?" Kate said in her normal soft, gentle tone. It was nice to hear Kate talk to him as if she wasn't afraid of someone. And who knows, maybe she was gonna give him a chance...seeing as he was the first person to not make some sick crude joke against her.

Aaron realised if he wanted to back out, now would be the time. He knew that Kate might take it the wrong way or just feel kind of stupid, as if she was being played, he then realised he might get it out of the way now because if they did become friends, it would be hard to explain later. He still felt like sweating though.

-"Because I have a symbol of my own" Aaron said as he pulled a sliver pentagram necklace out from over his shirt and dangled it infront of Kate. "I believe what I believe just as you believe what you believe. They may be complete opposites but, I don't know, just trust me on this" Aaron said with a smile which was hiding how bad he felt he fucked up before dropping his necklace and flicking his hair to the right, finally revealing his other eye. It was just as big and blue as the other. "I'm gonna go before you unleash the wrath of God on me for worshipping his greatest enemy. See ya later, Marsh" Aaron said as he stood up and headed for the door; seconds later, the fire alarm went off. "It wasn't me" Mr Jefferson heard as the door closed behind Aaron.

Aaron was what could be considered as that one kid who you just couldn't hate; he saw things in a practical way, for example, he wouldn't want someone to take the piss out of him, so he doesn't do it to anyone else. Also, he wasn't a Satanist, he just liked the Pentagram necklace and used it as a catalyst to speak to Kate.

He saw Kate as a victim of something she had no control over; she was clearly alone. He figured to be friendly with her because she needed just that, a friend. At least Aaron could say he knew her if he didn't like who she was. But this video, was not her and dispite not actually seeing it, he knew one thing for certain, that girl wasn't the true Kate Marsh.

After leaving class, Aaron made his way down the hall to his locker, realising he had no more lessons today, he took his books out and placed them there to make room in his bag for whatever and proceeded to make his way outside after closing his locker. He turned a few heads as he walked by as many people, both boys and girls were intrigued by him, he was something new in Blackwell. He'd made a few friends in his time there, or at least he knew who some people were and what they're names are.

An example of this was Daniel Da Costa, Aaron had never spoken to him but knew who he was and knew he could draw, knew he could draw very well. Aaron walked over to the spot where Daniel was sitting under the tree and sat down in front of him.

-"Daniel Da Vinci, what you drawing?" Aaron asked as Daniel looked up to face him. Daniel looked confused at what Aaron said and even more confused due to the fact that someone was talking to him instead of picking on him. Aaron knew that he had peaceful intentions but failed to see how awkward he had the atmosphere.

-"Eh, what did you call me?" was all Daniel could say as he adjusted the glasses on his face.

-"Daniel Da Vinci; y'know cus your last names Da Costa which is similar to Da Vinci who was also a great artist" Aaron replied in his casual tone as he picked some of the grass in front of where he was sitting

Daniel was taken aback by this, some kid who he's never spoken to properly just called him an artist.

-"I think you have me confused with someone else, I'm no artist, my photo's show that" Daniel sounded disheartened and the way he looked down at the floor proved this.

Aaron realised that nobody must have told Daniel how good his sketches were; he knew everyone told each other, but he figured no one told Daniel.

-"Dude, have you seen what you draw? You don't need to take pictures to be an artist because when you put pen to paper, you create art. In my short time here, that's one thing I hear a lot is how good you can draw and I'm telling you now, it's amazing!"

Daniel smiled at what Aaron had said, he needed to hear something like that and his spirits were lifted. Daniel smiling made Aaron smile because he felt good about making someone else feel good.

-"Wow, thank you, you've really opened my eyes, uh, what was your name again, Adam?" Daniel said, trying to remember Aaron's name.

-"It's Aaron, and don't mention it dude, I'm just telling you what you should've been told by know" Aaron said as he stood up "Keep drawing and don't let anyone tell you any different" Aaron walked off to his dorm room, feeling glad that he made Daniel aware of his talent.

This was how Aaron made himself known to the other students of Blackwell; he would literally talk to anyone. This didn't mean his words to Daniel we hollow to any standard, he genuinely wanted him to know how good of a drawer he was. There were some people who Aaron hadn't spoken to yet, nor did he plan to. Some people he figured he'd get on with, others were just simply different people whose personality wouldn't match his own and Aaron didn't want himself to be considered fake as he wasn't about that. This is what he thought on the small journey to his dorm room; who he was friends with.

Well, he figured Kate would be, if she didn't hate him after their first meeting. There was Warren, who he'd spoken to a few times since he'd started Blackwell. They both had a lot in common and got on well which was confirmed when they both Agreed "Aliens" was the best move in the saga. He'd spoken to Luke a few times and though not for very long, they seemed to get on fine-well, Luke offered him some gum and he doesn't really talk to anyone. He sat by Max in photography so when Jefferson wasn't talking, they would chat idly and seemed to be cool with each other.

Finally there were the skaters like Trevor and Justin; They were the first friends Aaron had made when he started Blackwell. When he walked up the steps for the first time and saw them popping grinds and landing steezy heelfilps, Aaron felt like Blackwell would be a cool place after all. They talked about tricks they could do and tricks that were beyond their leagues, at least for now. There was also the banter about what skate company was the best as they all skated different brands, as do many skaters. Whether it was Plan B, Girl or Baker, they all laughed and joked for a good half hour and Aaron knew he could talk to those dudes about anything. What they actually understood was a different matter.

When Aaron finally reached his room, his bed was a welcomed sight which he crashed hard and relaxed, taking in the day. Aaron's room layout was as follows: bed in the top left corner with black bedding, a window in the centre of the back wall, a silver desk with a computer set up on it and a pink flower next to it, a brown, three shelved book case at the foot of the bed with various books, DVDs, and games on them, a black Ibanez RC320 guitar next to it, a closed wardrobe on the back wall, to the left of the door, a black HDTV on the right wall, opposite the bed and a big, black stereo system in the bottom right with wires running to the laptop and a small chrome trash can next to it. The walls were white with various band posters on them, such as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbeth and Behemoth a well as T.V posters like Game of thrones and there was a dark blue carpet fitted.

So far, Aaron had could see things had started off good and steady at Blackwell. His dad's new job made his parents income even bigger, he'd made a few friends and was doing well in class. Not bad for the first day of the second week, however, there's always the negative that is inevitably gonna catch up with you and Aaron knew it was coming but tried to avoid it for as long as possible...Victoria Chase.

Being the optimist that he was, Aaron always saw the good in everybody (even if that person was somebody like Hitler) and he knew it would be no different with Victoria. He knew that the source of her bitchy-ness was down to insecurities, it always is with people who have practically everything. He could tell she would be a sound person to talk to, he just didn't wanna have to deal with the drama and hostility because he knew that it wasn't the true her. He was smarter than he knew but hey, he was able to read everybody so must be used to it by now.

Then his mind shifted to Nathan Prescott which made him roll his eyes in their sockets. Again, he could see this rich spoiled brat was just that, yet there was more to him as there would have to be to cause him to act the way he does. Aaron was yet to figure out what but knew he would in time, he just didn't wanna deal with the kids asshole personality that he gives off because, yet again, he knew that's not what he's truly like.

Aaron started thinking of a little joke that he'd started thinking to himself: if he managed to make friends with "Mr Rich and Entitled" by April, he'd be able to have a killer birthday party. He chuckled at this thought and rested his hands behind his head. The start of the week and no homework...yet. this posed all sorts of opportunities for friendship or arguments. He'd have to wait and see what the week brings, who knows, he may be able to tame King and Queen bitch or get trampled like poor Kate Marsh.

She was a topic he hated to think about. Aaron could tell that she was a lovely, sweet, innocent girl and she'd been exposed to the horror of bullying. Shame it didn't happen when she was 13 he thought. It would have been easier to understand as Blackwell was an Academy, a place for adults. People should be better than that and this caused Aaron to think of the reason he never bullied anyone. He wouldn't like it done to himself. Maybe he should tell Victoria that-for her to imagine what it would be like to go through that. Then he realised that would be a good way to get her to hate him.

He liked helping people and Kate was no exception, that fact that he found her really pretty made him blush at the thought. That was his incentive for helping her feel accepted, even if he didn't know it. He then shook the image out of his head as he realised he'd only spoke to her once. He knew better than that, to be smitten with someone he doesn't even know, however, he had to admit, he wish he knew her a bit better...

The birds chirping and the late autumn afternoon was a peaceful setting; one Aaron found himself waking up from his daydreaming to take several photos of. True, these types of photos weren't his specific area, but he had a passion for photography that he'd had since he was a little kid. It was something he couldn't help, the true beauty he saw in things which lead to his current place at Blackwell Academy. He could never pass up the opportunity to take the shot...no matter how awkward it would be.

Aaron was a completely different entity; people could even concider him a male Rachel Amber. Cool headed, kind and you couldn't hate him if you tried. He didn't give you a reason to. It was clear that he would have a big impact on Blackwell as time will pass. He was far from perfect but he was just something else and despite being relatively unknown, it wouldn't stay that way for long. Then again, he was gonna deal with Victoria Chase so yeah, people would know who he is.

Aaron's afternoon had gone the opisite of the girl in question. While he relaxed and chatted to people, Victoria tried her best to win the everyday hero's competition because to her, if there was something to win, she wanted to win it.

Victoria didn't actually 'like' Mark Jefferson, she was just trying to use what tools she had to try and shake the Everyday Heroes contest to go in her favour. Granted she would rather flirt with him that some of the other teachers at Blackwell and she knew she was doing this all in the name of victory.

-"Mr Jefferson, why do you care whether Max Caulfield enters into this contest anyway? Wouldn't it just make your job harder on deciding who to pick as the winner?" Victoria said, still bent over his desk with her ass sticking out for him to see, which he was taking no notice of. She had planned all this and it wasn't going her way.

-"Not exactly, Victoria; Max is one of the best photographers at Blackwell, even you saw her today-all the right answers to all the right questions. I wouldn't be surprised if she entered and won!" Mr Jefferson said as he looked back at the photos Victoria had placed in front of him.

-"Urgh, but surly all of my photos are better than anything she can hand in, right?" Victoria asked in a nervous tone as she extended her rear end out more. things took a turn and she realised she was struggling. Damn, it wasn't as easy as she thought but she wasn't gonna give up that easily.

-"Like I said, that's why she should enter because we'll never know until we find out" Mr Jefferson said in reply to what Victoria said, still taking no notice of her ass. "You have potential, Victoria. Some of your photos amazing but Max Caulfield could produce something better than them at the competition. See where I'm coming from?" Mr Jefferson was trying to tell her that it all comes down to what you hand in. That's pretty much what life will be like. It's how good you do on the day and if you're ready and have prepared enough for it. If you wanted it the most, you'd put in the effort and win on your own merits.

-"Oh, totally Mr Jefferson, you always know how to word things. I guess...being a big, famous artist and all, you would know what you're talking about" Victoria said as she blew a bubble, trying to butter him up even more.

Mr Jefferson was aware of Victoria's flirtirous attempts to try and win his favour, hoping to win the Everyday Heroes contest but he just ignored it. He was too professional to do something so stupid. He respected her for the work she did because of how amazing it was but that was where he drew the line, her work.

Victoria, on the other hand was sure that she would get what she wanted in the end. She was used to getting what she wanted due to growing up a spoilt little rich girl but was unable to see that Mark Jefferson was aware of what she was doing. Victoria also relished in the fact that, to her, she was doing something that was 'unique'. She was, or at least trying to, have a relationship with a teacher. As taboo as it seemed, she saw it as a popularity stunt. The only other person who was able to do that was the one person considered cooler than her, Rachel Amber. That's another thing Victoria had to do, step up everyone and stand out.

-"Huh, Victoria, there's more to it than that, a lot more in fa-Go ahead, Aaron, just be careful" Mr Jefferson said, cutting himself off to speak to Aaron.

-"Rude!" Victoria said as she gestured her head to Aaron.

-"Actually, Aaron Heartfield has some of the best potential I have ever seen in a student. His work is so original and sends powerful messages to whoever views them" Mr Jefferson said as he looked over at Aaron and smiled as he saw him enthusiastically taking photos of the ball of fire. Mark felt proud to be a teacher to such talented kids.

-"What does that little emo do, anyway?" Victoria said in disgust because Mark Jefferson was focused on someone else other than her.

-"He takes photos and completely voids the picture of all colour, save the black and white shades, then goes and draws a background related to the photo. In this instance, if he were to use that photo, the background might possibly be flames or something of that nature and he draws them himself. They're really quite good, you should look at them. And you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, Victoria. Just because he has that type of dress sense, doesn't mean he's an emo. Do you know what that word means?"

-"Fag" Victoria said in a very sarcastic tone. She wasn't interested in this nobody and just wanted to get everything over with.

-"It means EMOtional; kids who were over emotional or caused a scene were referred to as emo's. Trust me, I grew up in the eighty's, It was full of them. Anyway, Aaron is a genially happy guy and doesn't seem to be anything that fits the stereotype. You should talk to him, you'll see what I mean. He's pretty, well, shy, as if the last thing he wants to do is cause a scene" Mark said, just happy to be talking about something other than whatever Victoria was willing to talk about to sway his decision into winning the contest.

-"Urgh, whatever" Victoria grunted "Now, what would you say I should do to-." Victoria was cut off by the sound of the fire alarm going off _if that little bastard messed this up for me-._ Victoria thought before Mr Jefferson said:

-"Right, it was nice talking to you Victoria, as always but you should get outside to be safe"

-"OK, talk to you later Mr J" Victoria said in an upbeat voice with a big smile, turned around and headed twards the door.

As soon as she knew Mr Jefferson couldn't see her, she dropped the smile and pulled a silent grunt as she closed the door behind her. _Why does everyone have to make this so difficult for me?! Just let me win for fuck sakes. Seducing a teacher is almost as hard as being as beautiful as me._ Victoria thought to herself as she left the classroom and went to do what she normally did. Be a top class bitch. It's what she usually did when things didn't go her way, it's how she vented anger and no one would want to run into her when she was in that mood. Funny enough, she'd be meeting Aaron sooner than she expected.

 _ **A/N:- Sorry about the switch in time but I just felt it would be better this way. There's no rewind powers making it an ever so slight AU. No dark room stuff or any of that. If you liked it, follow the story, review if you wanna voice your opinion on anything (or to tell me how shit it is) and if you wanna know anything, PM me, I's be more than happy to help.**_

 _ **I just wanna say Aaron was placed as an opposite to Kate and the decision to make him look like an emo but not actually be one is part of his characterisation, more than meets the eye if you get me? The emo fashion sense could be seen as the black to Kate's white, hence why he always wears black, with some small white detail. I won't go too much into it as I've babbled enough and you're all not stupid but if you are curious about anything, PM me and I'll try to help.**_

 _ **Thanks again and I hope you stick around, it's just gonna get more interesting...**_


	2. Chapter 2-Road to Anywhere

_**A/N:- This chapter is gonna focus on a bit more character development and build bridges between some characters. You guys may hate it but if not, lemme know and I'll try to implement stuff like this again. Thanks for reading and**_ the _ **few reviews and fave/follows have driven me to produce this as quickly as I could. If you'd prefer me to take longer to make the chapters better, again, lemme know and I'll do that! You guys are awesome and enjoy!**_

Chapter 2: The Road to Anywhere

The nice, warm autumn weather was a welcome feeling to the two girls who drove carefree to the Arcadia bay scrapyard. It had become a place of retirement for the two girls since Max moved back to Arcadia bay from Seattle and served as their little private retreat where they could shut out the world and enjoy each other's company.

Max sometimes felt out of place as it used to be Chloe and Rachel's "Secret club" and Max couldn't help but feel out of place, or that she was intruding in on something that she had no business with. Chloe would sometimes be reminded of Rachel, causing her to feel sad at the thought of her angel still lost to the world. She wouldn't stay sad for long though, just being with her bestfriend again would lift her spirits and her mood in one.

Rachel was missing, there was no denying it. Whether she was still alive was a question not many people considered. Six months without a trace could only mean one thing, yet Chloe would still refuse to believe it. holding on to the thought of Rachel turning up in her trademark flannel and earring, smiling like nothing happened. Hope was something Chloe never had. First her dad, then Max and now Rachel...at least Max was back in her life, for good this time.

It was late in the afternoon; close to four o clock by the time the dynamic duo finally arrived at the scrapyard. Laughing as they left the rusty old pickup, they made their way to the small brick building at the back of the dump where they would sit on old crates around a small, beaten down old table that was filled with various different pieces of junk and other useless commodities. Apart from being littered with things that they might not need now, but have a use for later, the room was full of junk.

The dartboard had remained untouched since Chloe and Rachel's last game, empty beer bottles littered the floor, a pack of cards lay open on the table. A pile of old bean bags were stacked in the corner, with one of them managing to be free from the prison that they were all trapped in. Empty snack packets surrounded the makeshift seats the two girls were sitting on as they continued to laugh and talk about their day.

There was a calm, almost macabre atmosphere; peaceful yet unpleasant to the eye. The slight sound of the wind blowing a few dead leaves across the floor was all that this place had to offer. No birds, no loud traffic, the autumn glow was warming to those who knew this place and off-putting to those who didn't.

-"So, Super Max, how was your day at Smellwell, was it as plain and boring as mine?" Chloe asked as she opened a bag of Doritos.

-"Oh come on, Chloe, we both know your days are full of excitement and eh, whatever it is you do when you're not with me" Max replied in her soft, steady tone as she gestured to the small build up of crumbs on Chloe's lip.

-"All I can do is stay trapped in my stoner dungeon until you come and rescue me. True, I can go anywhere I want, but I'd much rather do it with my dorkey sidekick" Chloe said after wiping the crumps from her mouth and flicking them at Max as a way of saying who that sidekick was.

The two girls laughed at Max's struggle to dodge the microscopic pieces of food which came to no avail. After they were finished, Chloe offered some of the chilli heatwave corn chips to Max, who took one with a smile. Placing it in her mouth and chewing before realising how hot it actually was. It didn't burn her mouth, just took her by surprise.

This caused her blue-haired punk to laugh even more.

-"What's the matter Max, don't like hot stuff? Shame, and here I thought we were so similar" Chloe said before placing a handful of chips in her mouth at once to prove her point. Max, oblivious to the crudely hidden sexual reference that Chloe had placed made Chloe laugh harder. Max was so innocent and sheltered.

After the chip fiasco, the two stood up and decided to walk along the tracks and end up wherever the road took them.

Adventures like this reminded them of when they were kids, playing pirates in Chloe's backyard and trying to conquer the world. The feeling of going anywhere with each other was something they both loved and had dearly missed over the past five years. They had also missed each other, more than they knew.

In those five years, they had changed into completely different people. Max, the shy, dweeby scholar and Chloe, the rebel punk dropout that hated the world. They both were different people when in each other's company. Despite Chloe's crude outbursts and loud personality, they were like they were when they were kids. They understood each other perfectly and had a bond most people could only dream of. They couldn't be more opposite if they tried ye were perfect together.

As they walked on a different rail, they held each other's hand for support while balancing themselves with the other. They trusted each other completely and they knew they wouldn't be let down. That was their friendship, without one, there couldn't be the other. As the sun set behind them, it cast a beautiful orange glow that they walked towards, emerging from the shadows of the tree's and foliage to the light at the end of the tunnel.

-"So Max, you have a boy waiting for you back in Seattle?" Chloe asked as she placed one foot in front of the other, not taking her eyes off the track.

-"Why, you wanna know if I'm available?" Max joked as he mouth curled into a half smile.

-"I just wanna know if my best friend has grown up more than I thought she has...and if I need to break someone's legs if they hurt you" Chloe said, causing Max to let out a quiet chuckle.

The talk about boys and relationships made Max think back to her second year in Seattle. She was reminded of the boy she had a crush on, how well they got on together and what happened between them. It was a memory she hadn't thought of for a long time, most of Seattle seemed like a blur to her now.

Max cast her mind back, trying to remember his name, face, features, what happened and just who he was.

-"Well, there was this one boy, Ryan, who I guess I thought was kinda cute. I mean, we never dated or anything but we spend a lot of time together and got on really well" Max muttered slowly as she remembered the blurry picture she had in her mind.

Chloe's had would tighten around certain parts of the sentence that seemed like Max may have done something or had a romantic involvement with this boy. Chloe felt as if she'd be losing Max and didn't want to go through that again. Despite being best friends, Chloe felt something with Max, as if she didn't want anyone else to have her. Max, being the dunce she was, didn't take any notice of the tightening grip Chloe gave her sometimes, she just thought it was a way of steadying her balance.

The pair continued down the old railway line, still holding hands and talking about everything. Their journey had been ongoing for so long, it's a wonder that they haven't found an end to the tracks yet.

-"Did you ever kiss him" Chloe jested, trying to appear as if she was trying to embarrass Max like she would do all the time, when in reality, she wanted to know if someone had kissed her Max. Wow, 'her Max' it weird to Chloe in her head, did she really just refer to Max as something like that?!

-"Nah, we never did anything like that, I was only fifteen and was more concerned with school than boys. Besides, I don't think he...liked girls...in that way..." Max trailed off as she avoided eye contact with Chloe. _Come on, if a guy spends a lot of time with a girl for the better part of a year but doesn't try anything has gotta mean he doesn't like girls, right?!_ Max thought as Chloe started to slightly laugh at what she had said.

-"So he was your gay BFF? Wow Max, not even I had one of those" Chloe laughed, feeling a sense of relief inside, one she'd never share with Max.

-"Well, I don't know for sure, he just never seemed to, I don't know, make a move or anything, So I guess he didn't like me in that way. What about you, you must have broke loads of hearts when you didn't have me to stop you" Max explained as she turned her head to a slightly hysterical Chloe.

-"Oh, hella yes; you could say I lost count after two hundred" Chloe joked as she winked at Max

-"Seriously Chloe, I wanna know all the juicy details"

-"Well, I had a lot of flings, nothing serious. Hell, the last time I had a serious relationship, I caught her talking to Rachel of all people. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly a friendly talk-more of a 'hey, lemme get in your pants' kinda talk" Chloe proclaimed as she hung her head low. Max could clearly see that Chloe was upset by remembering the incident.

-" 'She' so, looks like just boys weren't enough for the famed Chloe Price" Max joked in an effort to make her best friend laugh.

-"Yeah, I guess, after my girl-friend left for the big Seattle city, I had real girlfriends then" Chloe recalled.

Subconsciously, that's how she dealt with the loss of Max, that one person, a girl, who had such a massive impact on her life, who she was with every waking moment of the day just disappeared. Obviously Chloe didn't choose to be homosexual; it's something you're born with, not a choice. You can't choose your genes it just so happened that Chloe realised hers when Max left her life. She realised how much she missed her best friend, how much she needed her, hell, it could be said that any girl she had something with was her way of filling the void Max left when she moved away.

They walked in silence for a while, enough had been said for now and the beautiful autumn scenery still needed to be taken in. They continued to walk hand in hand along the tracks together, like it should have always been.

The school day had come to an end, and here Aaron was, sitting on his ass, staring at the ceiling. The was number vast possibilities that he could do, friends he could make or hell, maybe talk to Victoria or Nathan and get those obstacles out of the way. It was also the start of the academic week so Aaron had no homework to work on, something else that was a blessing in disguise. No homework now, meant some later and an inconvenient time.

Instead of making new friends, he could hang out with the ones he already had and build up his relationship with them. True, he didn't have many but the five or six he did have were enough to pass the reminder of the day away. Boredom was one of Aaron's weaknesses, one of the problems he always struggled to solve.

Looking out his window yet again for what had to be the seventh time since he got back to his dorm room, Aaron was met with the auburn sky again. The dark contrast of shadows from the foliage was a nice backdrop and Aaron would even consider taking a picture, if he hadn't already taken like 3. The small noise of idle chatter outside his window was masked by the loud chirping of birds as they flew past his window. The inconsistent pattern that they kept was something for Aaron to make the most out of, waiting for the next notes to be heard. _Gee, it's peaceful here, you can't deny that_ Aaron thought as he looked at the sky.

It was 3:43 and Aaron had been sat in his room for over half an hour and having decided enough was enough, he did the first thing that came into his head...take a walk anywhere.

Taking his white IPhone 5 off of charge and placing it in his right jacket pocket, Aaron picked up his rucksack and left his room. He had no idea where he was going but it was better than sitting there doing nothing. The sense of mystery intrigued Aaron; his sense of curiosity towered over his sense of fear. Walking into the unknown didn't scare him as much as it did to other people, he enjoyed it.

Getting on the first bus he that came by, Aaron sat down, placed his headphones in and stared out off the window to wait for opportunity to cross him. Aaron was aiming for something on the outskirts of town-something literally off the beaten track. But he'd take anything. Exploration was good and he enjoyed it as it reminded him of his childhood, what little he wanted to remember.

Shutting out the world once more, Aaron placed his headphones in and turned up the volume to full. His playlist varied from heavy to soft music, he wasn't really one for atmosphere, he just listened to whatever he was in the mood for but something about the bright autumn sky made his mood kind of chilled.

Opting for the comfort of 'Arabella' by Arctic Monkeys, Aaron stared out the window and took in Arcadia Bay. True, it seemed depressing but he'd grown to appreciate the hidden beauty it had to offer.

He had a knack for that; appreciating the hidden things that not many people see. Despite it being pretty shitty, his past had moulded him into the person he was today so yeah, that was the only good thing to come out of it and he had a certain appreciation for it in his own way. His new life began when he moved from Portland to the solace of Arcadia bay.

The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round, carrying him to wherever it was he was going. His mood being very melancholy but Aaron always looked forward to where he was going. A feeling he knew all too well.

The outskirts of Arcadia bay were peaceful and quiet; they were really something to be admired. Aaron had been on the bus for a good ten minutes and was not yet satisfied with what he saw. The thirst for adventure still alive inside him and the optimistic attitude kept him on the lookout for the perfect place for the bus to stop.

As if on cue, Aaron saw an old gate in between two large hedges and realised that it was what he had been looking for. With a press of a button, the bus came to a stop only a few meters down the road from the desired sight Aaron had seen. Thanking the driver as he exited, Aaron made his way back to the gate and examined the sight that was in front of him.

The gat was roughly two meters in diameter and came up to his waste. It had four metal bars running along the width of it and was secured by a thick chain and hefty lock. It wasn't very rusted, just worn but obviously was no longer in use for whatever it had been. On the other side was the start to a country path that was bordered by two hedges on either side. When he was sure no one was looking, Aaron simply climbed over and started to follow it. _Urgh, exercise_ Aaron thought as he started his mantle of the old gate.

Along the walk, Aaron removed his headphones to take in the natural sounds of the earth; it was something he enjoyed when blindly walking into the unknown. The slight breeze could be felt and the rustling of trees in the wind could be heard. Any animal sound was completely absent as Aaron walked along this old, forgotten path. Sticking his left hand out, Aaron ran it along the hedge as he looked at the sky as he walked along, feeling more attuned to nature than ever. It was a natural feeling and it felt amazing.

Remembering the packet of gum he had in his right jean pocket, Aaron placed a hand inside and removed a stick. After placing the pink strip in his mouth, he placed the silver wrapping back in his pocket and started to chew.

It was a nice cherry flavour, one of Aaron's favourites. He would always buy it if he had the chance, the sweet treat was always his first choice. This was one of the positive memories of his childhood that he remembered when he chewed a piece. The nostalgia of his happy single digit years always came rushing back, it was his light in the dark and had been literal more than once. Regardless, the flavour held happy memories.

Then, all of a sudden, an image of Kate Marsh flooded his head. He could see her in his mind clear as day as he walked along the trail. It was her purity and goo hearted kindness that caused the connection between the cherry chewing gum and the memory Aaron was now having of Kate. She always gave him hope; if she was able to fight the everlasting battle she had to every day, everyone should be able to. Aaron wished he could help her in any way possible because that's what he did. Help people and if anybody needed it the most, it was Kate.

Aaron wished he could see her smile, even in his mind, her mouth hung slightly open, her red lipstick covered lips...maybe that was another connection. They seemed to be the same colour as a cherry; all red and shiny. Aaron had to wonder if they tasted like cherry and if he'd ever get to find out.

Doing a double take from his most recent thought, Aaron was brought back to reality as he stopped moving. _Not gonna be thinking like that_ he thought to himself as he shook his head and immediately after checking it with his hands to make sure his hair wasn't all messed up.

Realising he had stopped to compose himself, Aaron took in his surroundings. He could see the path crossed a railway line and decided to turn left and follow that instead of continuing straight on. _There's always something interesting along old railway lines, just like in every movie ever_ Aaron thought as he walked along the old, rusted tracks, still in search of an adventure.

The Terrible two that was Max and Chloe had finally finished their long walk away from the world and settled in a nice clearing by an old track switching station. The two girls lay top to tail across the tracks with their arms resting behind their heads. Chloe had her legs propped up while Max left hers straight. The hadn't been there long, truth be told, it seemed like they had been there all afternoon when in reality, they had only been together for a little over an hour.

-"So Max, got any awesome plans for the rest of the week?" Chloe asked, breaking the silence.

-"If by wait for homework and find a way to be invisible, yes if not, then nope, I got nothing" Max replied, still staring at the sky.

-"Oh come on, your life cannot be that boring?" Chloe called as she sat up on her arms to look at Max.

-"I am, hanging out with you is probably the most entertaining thing I can do, and I hate you" Max joked.-

Chloe scoffed before saying:

-"Is that true, Caulfield? Well in that case, I guess I could just get up, drive off and leave your ass stranded here"

-"You love me too much to do that" Max responded as she stuck her tongue out.

-"you're right, I'd miss that bony white ass of yours" Chloe quipped as she gently nudged Max with her foot.

Their atmosphere was their own; no one could feel like they were or see things their way. Whenever they were together, they may as well have been in their own world as nothing could break them apart, they were invincible. It was a relationship many friends wanted but only these two were able to achieve. It was really something.

Their idle chat and friendly banter was disrupted when they heard the sound of footsteps dislodging the stones that the railway line was built on. The two girls slowly stood up and faced the direction where the noise was coming from. The figure was black and for all Chloe and Max knew, it was some psycho-serial killer and they were his next victims. It was then they both remembered Arcadia Bay was boring and there was no one like that who lived there.

The two girls kept close to each other, not wanting to be more than arms reach in case of a worst case scenario. Finally, the figure was visible and while Chloe kept vigilant, Max relaxed as she recognized who it was.

-"Aaron, what are you doing out here?" Max asked as she walked towards him.

-"Wait, you know this guy, Max?" Chloe asked in a puzzled manor.

-"Yeah, he goes to Blackwell, I sit by him in Jefferson's class" Max replied as Aaron stood still, waiting for the two to finish.

The situation was more tense than awkward; Max had relaxed it as best she could and who knows, things might calm down. Both Max and Aaron did have to admit, it was strange seeing each other in the middle of nowhere. Knowing that Max knew who he was made Chloe a lot more relaxed. _Damn, I gotta stop smoking so much green_ She thought to herself, uncrossing her hands as she exhaled.

-"Nice to run into somebody I know, what are you guys doing here?" Aaron asked as he looked at the old track switching station.

-"We were just walking and decided here would be a great place to stop and bitch about life" Max replied in her usual timid tone. But what about you? You gotta admit it's a bit strange that you're walking all alone out here"

-"Well you're not wrong, I was just deathly bored and decided to walk around. I took a bus for about ten minutes and have just...well, been walking"

Chloe had been silent as the two friends talked, her eyes flicking back and forth whoever was speaking. She kept crossing and uncrossing her arms as a way of finding something to do. Realising how slightly awkward she must be feeling, Aaron found a way to involve her in the conversation.

-"So Max, who's your punk?" Aaron asked as he looked at Chloe

-"This is my best friend and pain in my ass, Chloe Price. Trust me, she's a handful; I have no idea how I've put up with her for so long" Max jested as she nudged Chloe's arm playfully.

-"It must be my amazing personality and dashing good looks, not to mention I drive your ass everywhere" Chloe said with a small smile as she looked back at Aaron. She had to admit, he was kind of hot.

-"Nice ink, if I had a friend who had cool tats like that, I'd wanna hang with them a lot more. Not to mention the sick hair colour" Aaron said as he pointed to Chloe's tattoo and hair. She giggled before saying:

-"See Max, someone appreciates body art when they see it" Max just shook her head and smiled as Chloe sat back down on the tracks. "Take a seat Mr one eye" Chloe insisted towards Aaron as she tugged on Max's jean leg as a way of trying to get her to park her ass aswell.

The awkward atmosphere had now been replaced with a much more calmer, chilled out one as the three teenagers sat down on the railway line. Aaron had made an impression on Chloe, the same he did with most people and Max was already friends with him so if anything, she liked him more.

They talked about all sorts of things. Things they liked, things they hated and all things in between. They compared music that they liked and hated as well as people and their hateful feelings towards them. Victoria Chase came up more than once. Aaron being himself said how they don't know what she's really like and they should try to get past the boundaries of insecurities, bitchy-ness and her stuck up attitude. The two girls agreed with him up until he mentioned Nathan Prescott where he was met with laughter and disagreement from both girls.

Getting people to see things the way he did was tough and Aaron wasn't gonna force other people to try and see things his way. He wasn't some Dictator and had no desire for everyone to be like him because he's prefer it if everyone was themselves and didn't try to be something they're not.

Chloe and Max stood up and started to walk down the tracks with their fingers interlocking the same way it was when they were walking along the track before stopping. Aaron, being the camera addict he was saw this as a perfect photo op and got behind the two girls to take a photo.

The contrast of the sunlight still shining on them made them almost black silhouettes apart from slight colour input from Chloe's left side which starts off visible and gradually gets darker as you go from left to right before eventually getting to Max where the colour gets brighter from left to right. The photo was a great shot, something that really captured the girls friendship and showed that as long as they were together, they would walk through the dark and back into the light.

In the four or so steps they took, Chloe jolted to a stop as the tracks had changed, catching her foot in between the rails.

-"Chloe, you ok?" Max asked as she stood off the tracks and faced her friend.

-"Yeah, I'm uh, I'm fine. Just hurry up and get me outta here will ya Super Max?" Chloe responded.

Chloe did feel scared, even though she would never let anyone see it. She tried to stay calm but was freaking out on the inside. Aaron had stood up and was standing next to her to see if he could help in any way.

-"I'll see what I can do" Max said as she walked over to the track switcher. "I'll just change...the..." max slowly muttered as she stopped moving. She swayed from side to side and would have fallen if Aaron hadn't caught her.

-"MAX!" Chloe screamed out as Aaron lowered her to the floor. Chloe felt helpless at the fact she was stuck and couldn't help her best friend. The thought of getting free had left her mind, all she wanted to do now was help Max. _Oh fuck, o fuck, o fuck, I gotta go and help her, fucking train tracks!_ Chloe thought as she wriggled around trying to get free.

Aaron had eased her down gently and took his jacket off, placing it under her head for support. Aaron wasn't gonna lie, he was a little freaked out right now but the worst thing he could do is panic. Besides, Chloe was already panicking enough for the both of them.

Once Aaron was sure Max was ok, his mind turned to helping Chloe. He quickly ran to the change lever and tried to force it forward, changing the direction of the tracks. The lever had different plans and wasn't budging. Aaron was scared now, he needed to get Chloe free from the rusty grasp of the train track as soon as possible.

Chloe was panting loudly now; the fear had set in and she really was afraid something bad would happen to her or even worse, Max. Aaron tried tugging her as hard as he could but she wasn't moving. He scrambled his brain for an idea as he tried to keep Chloe calm.

Now that Aaron was helping her, Chloe had calmed down drastically but was still very, very afraid. Aaron had changed position from tugging under her Arms, to trying to pull her foot out from her side. Nothing was working and the train was coming.

As if on cue, Chloe's foot started to budge, well, her foot at least; her boot was still cemented between the rust covered tracks.

-"I'm an idiot" Aaron said as he placed both hands on his head. "Your boot is what's caught, not your actual foot. Try to wiggle your foot out of your boot. It should be easier than getting the whole thing out"

Chloe was slightly confused but decided to go with what Aaron said, it was better than nothing. As the two struggled frantically to get Chloe's foot from her boot, the noise of a train approaching was more and more audible. This added more panic and fear but they knew that if they wanted to get out of this, they needed to stay as calm as possible. _Come on you fucking-how fat is her foot?!_ Aaron thought as he tugged harder and harder at Chloe's leg, trying to dislodge her foot.

-"If you've been waiting 'til the last minute for effect, now would be pretty fucking effective!" Chloe yelled as she wriggled her foot inside her boot.

The train was in sight now, it was do or die time. With one big pull, Chloe's foot came flying out of her boot. She was free. Her sock on the other hand had been ripped in half and decided to stay in the boot. Hey, run over by train was an upgrade from a rip. Aaron had a stupid impulsive moment and tugged Chloe's boot. It came out easier than expected, probably due to the fact it was now Chloe-less. The momentum caused him to fall back and crash into Chloe off of the train track as the train whizzed by.

The terror was over; the train was gone and they were all safe. Max was fine, just passed out, Chloe's leg was still attached, even if she was minus a sock and Aaron's landing was cushioned by Chloe. After they stood up and dusted themselves off, they made their way over to check on Max.

Chloe and Aaron were both equally drained by the experience that had just occurred. Their breathing was shallow and quiet but they both decided that it would be best to just make sure Max was ok.

Chloe figured Aaron was a cool guy; he basically saved her life and made sure Max was ok. She was still shook up but was able to realise that without him, she may not be standing here right now. Despite what happened, Chloe had to shake it off as best she could; she needed to make sure Max was ok, that was her priority now.

Aaron on the other hand was just shocked that something like that had actually happened. He could have seen someone get run over by a train and was just glad to have made sure that it didn't happen. He saved Chloe's life but didn't want any praise, didn't want to dwell on it, just move on and be glad he did the right thing.

-"What happened to her?" Chloe asked as her and Aaron both knelt beside a still sleeping Max.

-"She just fainted, I don't know why though-It could be a lot of things, lack of food, dehydration, anything" Aaron said as he looked her up and down. "She should be fine, just let her wake up on her own and sorry for touching your girl" Aaron said the last part of his sentence in a more joking manor while giving Chloe a playful wink.

-"What, no, Max isn't 'my girl' we're just best friends, nothing more" Chloe protested

-"Ok Chloe, whatever you say-hell- maybe you don't even know it yet but I can tell by the way you look at her and the way you are around her, you like her"

-"Ok Mr always right, let's say I do, this is Max we're talking about. She's more straighter than an arrow, not to mention my best friend" Chloe still defended herself, then again, no, she didn't, did she?! "Well you saved my life and I'm hella grateful so, what I'm tryna say is thanks"

-"Don't mention it, what was I gonna do, leave you there?" Aaron quipped as he looked at Chloe and smiled. The two got on well, who knows, maybe Aaron had made another friend.

The two talked about their lives on a not too personal level, giving they barely knew each other and exchanged numbers while they waited for Max to wake up. The evening was starting and the auburn glow of the autumn sun was changing as the whole sky grew a beautiful orange but also darker. If Max didn't wake up soon, they'd be in the woods in the dark...fun.

Luckily, she did wake up and her two friends were able to carry her back to Chloe's truck. Supporting Max on both sides as they walked, Aaron and Chloe recalled the events to Max on how they got her off of the tracks before the train got there. Of course they joked about, saying things like Aaron turned into the Hulk and broke the track completely or how the train hit them and they are all dead. Max didn't buy any of it and was still a bit groggy from just waking up. She did find some of the lies funny though. The two were just as bad as each other but made her laugh.

When back at the truck, Chloe got into the driver's seat as Aaron loaded Max into the passenger seat before jumping in the trailer for the drive back to Blackwell. It was an amazing drive; the sky, the surroundings, the foliage, all of it. Aaron took it all in along with a few photos while Chloe made Max laugh and feel better. It was a nice, peaceful end to a crazy afternoon that no one of the three would soon forget.

When they arrived at Blackwell, Chloe went with Max to her dorm to make sure she got there ok while Aaron said goodbye and left to retire to his own room. The adventure and mystery he wanted had been filled and he could settle down for the night easy and prepare for the coming day. More challenges and more obstacles to face and over come. Even Victoria and Nathan...still, it would be entertaining and Aaron expected nothing less.

 _ **A/N:- Ok, so I took the scrapyard scene from episode two and played around with it to make it suit the new narrative. I hope I didn't confuse any of you, I know I'm not the best at putting my thoughts into words (Sorry) I hope there's enough filler in between events, that's something I always struggle with, I just don't know how to do it but I'm still trying. The next chapter will take place at Blackwell so don't worry those of you who wanna see the academic characters.**_

 _ **The next 'big obstacle' if you like, that I'll be leading to is the confrontation between Aaron and Victoria (in case you didn't notice)that won't be the end of the story, I plan to continue it a lot longer and further, for example, more scenes from the game will be included but changed slightly like this one.**_

 _ **Enough of me rambling, if you enjoy it, follow/fave, I'd much appreciate it. Anything you wanna know, PM me, I'd love to help with anything you'll wanna know and yeah, just stick with it, more whacky shit is coming...**_


	3. Chapter 3-Who Wants What!

_**A/N:-So this is chapter three; I had planned for it to be longer but I'm going away for 11 days on Monday and I wanted to get a chapter out before I left. Sorry if the quality is shit but hopefully chapter 4 will make up for it when it's out! Hope you enjoy...**_

Chapter 3-Who Wants What?!

The alarm that roared through Aaron's room every morning was something he did not look forward to. Signalling him that his blissful sleep needed to come to an end and how he had to look forward to a day of learning and being a teenager in education. He wasn't complaining, 'XX Sew my eyes shut' by Capsize was a nice song to wake up to, the fact that he had to get up was the downside. Shame how something that he liked was linked to something he hated. Come to think of it, that was literally his life right now.

Sitting up in bed, Aaron rubbed sleep from his lifeless face. It screamed annoyance and anyone who saw his expressions in the morning would know he hated waking up. _Fuck school, fuck mornings and fuck waking up at eight AM._ He thought as he rubbed sleep from his tightly closed eyes. After rubbing furiously at his sockets for a few seconds, Aaron reached his left arm over to his nightstand and turned the alarm off. He then searched his floor for a discarded shirt that he could wear to conceal himself on the way to the showers.

Settling on a red and black flannel, Aaron placed his arms through it and swung his legs over the side of the bed so they were now on the floor. He wriggled his head slowly from side to side to loosen the tightened muscles in his neck while rubbing it with his right hand. The thought of crawling back under the covers and going back to sleep was something he'd think about often in the mornings and desperately wanted to do so right now. He would always do the right thing though; getting up and walking over to his stereo system, putting some mellow, but heavy song on, grabbing his wash kit and heading to the showers. It was a routine he was used to by now...that didn't mean he liked it.

After standing up of his bed, Aaron shuffled over to his stereo and looked at his laptop that was plugged into it. Capsize were still in his mind so he opted for 'You can't come home the same' to play in the background as he readied himself for the journey to the showers.

The only light in the room was whatever shined through the closed curtains and the small blue light on the stereo. Aaron HATED bright lights in the morning and refused to allow more light into the room than what he needed. He shifted his way back to his bed and knelt beside it. Reaching under with his right arm and fishing about for a bit eventually ended with Aaron pulling his wash kit out from under the bed and standing up. _There you are you little bastard, now come on, time to get clean_ Aaron thought to himself as he inched his way to his dorm door.

Lucky for him, the lights in the corridor were dim in the morning hours and Aaron was thrilled that he wouldn't be blinded. He wished the same could be said for the bathroom lights. Those things shone brighter than the fucking sun. They practically burn your retinas when you set foot in the bathroom...well, so it seemed. Aaron knew that it was so if anyone had an accident, Blackwell wouldn't be sued easy. Shame, he'd rather break his neck than see those lights again.

The wet floor made Aarons socks feel damp (yes, he wears socks to bed) as he made his way to one of the cubicles. Setting his towel down on a bench, Aaron hopped into the nearest cubicle and tossed his flannel, socks and boxers over the top and onto the bench before turning the water on. He just prayed they all made it to the bench and stayed dry. It was an unspoken rule in the boys shower room not to fuck with each other's shit. It was a mutual understanding that they all kept to, no matter who you were and how childish you acted.

The warm water was welcoming on his skin, especially his neck. All of his muscles were able to loosen and make him feel more relaxed and ready for the long day ahead. His morning showers were essential on setting his mood and mind set for the rest of the day. The feeling of just being awake after feeling stuck in sleep was a comforting feeling that Aaron enjoyed.

Aaron in the morning and Aaron at every other point of the day were two different people. One was kind and understanding and the other was a total fucking bell end who would bite your head off if you so much as breathed too loud.

The ten or so minutes that Aaron spent in the shower were over fairly quickly. Stepping out and drying himself off was the task Aaron was now engaging. His body was dried fairly quickly but his hair was another matter. Due to it being so long/thick, Aaron always woke up with a bad form of bed hair and getting water on it to flatten it all out was something he had to do. This however led to it being soaking wet and long/thick hair was horrible to deal with, especially in the mornings. _Just a small price to pay, you wanted longer hair, now you gotta deal with it_ Aaron thought, trying to convince himself it was out of choice he had to do this chore.

Putting his boxers back on, Aaron rubbed towel over across his head vigorously in an effort to dry his hair to a decent standard. It worked, sort of, if you call having your hair stick up like an 80's afro working. Realising this in the mirror, Aaron just sighed and began to brush his teeth. By the time he'd finished, he'd placed all hygiene products back in his wash kit, picked up his flannel and socks, placed the towel around his shoulders and walked back to his room to get changed for the day.

As Aaron entered his room, he dropped the towel and clothes in his hand into a washing basket by his door, before doing the same with his boxers. The stereo was still blasting, only this time the song was 'The Gospel' by Knocked loose. Aaron placed clean underwear on and the skinny jeans he'd worn the previous day. His grim reaper shirt was still clean and the copious amounts of body spray he puts on daily saw to it not smelling, therefore that was his shirt for the day. Aaron walked over to his nightstand, placed his Rolex on his thin left wrist and picked up his Pentagram necklace and placed it around his neck. Aaron then sprayed himself with more body spray before taking his black jacket off of the back of the door and placing it on. Leaving the zip undone and the sleeves rolled up like he always does.

Now, his hair; blow drying the thing was something he hated but needed it to be dry before class otherwise he's look like a mess and as much as he hated to admit it, Aaron took a lot of pride in his appearance. Thank God it was straight otherwise his hairstyle just wouldn't work. It was a nice comfort in the chore that was drying his hair. After it was dry, Aaron brushed it so it wasn't so bushy; this was his morning routine. Yeah, not as interesting as you may think, then again, whose is?!

Looking at the time, Aaron realised that he had fifteen minutes to get to class. Picking up his bag, taking his phone off charge and turning the stereo off before finally leaving the room and making his way to class; good thing Aaron was a fast walker. He arrived in his seat, ready for Mr Jefferson's Tuesday morning class.

Victoria was sat in her usual spot, talking to Taylor as she waited for class to start. _Urgh, another morning lesson; it's only Tuesday and I'm already fed up of this week_ she thought as she picked up her phone to see if there was anything new on social media. Besides a few notifications on facebook and some likes on instagram, there was nothing interesting. No, wait, there was. Victoria had a friend request off of one of the last people she would ever expect. Aaron.

She squinted her face as she re-read the screen and clear as day, there it was. STILL not satisfied, Victoria rubbed the screen of her dark blue Samsung Galaxy S4 but Aaron's name was still there. She was confused; why did this weirdo wanna add her?! Victoria felt like laughing at him and calling him out on it right now. He was only like ten feet away from her anyway. For some reason, she felt inclined to accept it, so she did.

As soon as she did, Victoria looked over and saw Aaron take his phone out of his pocket. He must have got the notification that she had accepted but he didn't do anything...at all. He just put his phone back in his pocket and continued to read his text book.

This confused Victoria even more; what did this kid want? At was as if he didn't even seem bothered by the fact she had just accepted him, it wasn't something she did to just anyone. He should consider himself lucky to have her add him and yet, here he was-not bothered in the slightest. He must be playing some sort of game with her, using her for popularity perhaps. Whatever he was doing, it didn't add up to Victoria. _I'll figure out what you want, you little shit_ Victoria thought, not paying any attention at all to what Taylor had been saying for the past minute or so.

-"So I totally told hi-hey, Victoria, you listening?" Taylor asked.

-"Uh, yeah, of course I am" Victoria responded as she turned to face Taylor.

Before either girl could say anything else, Mr Jefferson walked into the room, meaning that everyone found their place and got ready to continue with the day.

Victoria tried to focus on the lesson and what was being said but found herself confused. This matter concerning Aaron had annoyed her greatly and she couldn't seem to get her mind away from it. Victoria was used to getting whatever she wanted and she wanted to know what this kid's deal was. He just sat there, listening to what was being said in Mr Jefferson's lecture and not even paying her any attention at all.

Victoria was also bothered by how much thought she was paying this nobody. Why did he bother her so much?! He wasn't popular or intriguing or anything that should warrant this much attention and that was an annoyance. She hated annoyances almost as much as she hated her outdated summer wardrobe.

He must want something from her: Money, Popularity, drugs, a quick fuck. Victoria was tired of racking her brain and coming up with nothing. She needed to find something out and she planned to do just that. Pulling a piece of her blonde hair to one side, she leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs and started paying attention to what Mr Jefferson was saying. She'd deal with him later.

Victoria was always used to people using her for something; it was how it's been for as long as she could remember. With a name like hers, her status was elevated to that among most people and she was always what they would use to get up to a higher social level. He must want something from her, right?! Victoria had started on something and she wouldn't stop until she had gotten to the bottom of it. You can say whatever you want about Victoria Chase but you had to admit, she was determined.

This was the first step of Aaron's plan to make friends with her; he knew she would want a reaction out of him and all he had to do was ignore her. He knew this would wind her up and lead her to start a conversation with him instead of him speaking to her first.

Victoria was a rare case and he knew it; Aaron could see that the bitchy side of her was just a front. A shield she hid her insecurities behind and did not wanna deal with all the hassle and drama that came with it. The thought had crossed Aaron's mind to just leave Victoria alone and not go through all the trouble but the challenge of befriending her was too great for him to pass up.

Kate was feeling her usual self again today; sad, alone and depressed. Those were the only things that she felt anymore. The video of her at a vortex party had totally ruined her life to the point of no return and she hated the feeling. She had no one to turn to, no one to talk to and no one to be there for her. It was hell.

The best part about Mr Jefferson's class was how well it took her mind off of things. Kate was able to fill her mind with thoughts other than how much she wanted to die. Time seemed to stop around her as she listened to what Mr Jefferson said and only start when she was sucked back into reality. She needed a way out of this horror she called a life.

Around half way through the lesson, Mr Jefferson had told them all he needed to for today's lecture and told them to get on with work in the text book so it was finished by the end of the day. He didn't care what they did for the rest of the lesson, so long as the work was done by tomorrow.

Kate just turned to her desk and continued with her drawings. They were physical embodiments of what she was feeling and anyone with a decent eye would notice. Dark figures with emotionless faces adorned the pages with sinister art to go along with them. There was no colour, just the dark grey of Kate's pencil that put her feelings onto the surface. From a figure hanging from an old tree to a heart ripped, stitched and destroyed, anyone's heart would ache at the sight of them.

Kate had nothing else to do apart from work; she'd shut herself away in her dorm and work ahead so she'd never fall behind in class. She'd finished this assignment two days ago, leaving her plenty of time to be reminded how everyone in the room hates her.

This wasn't true of course and Kate knew it. She knew Max always made an effort to talk to her and she was grateful for it, Kate just wanted to be able to be a teenager again. Go out and have fun, meet up with someone, y'know-stereotypical girl shit. She was feeling lost ans she needed someone to guide her back.

Kate couldn't help but look at Aaron for a brief moment; in truth, he had confused her and she wanted to see if he was what he made out to be. Despite only talking once, he was nice to her and she had no reason to be cruel to him so, fuck it, she figured he wanted to be friends. Kate obviously didn't think along the lines of 'friend' due to how long it had been since she'd experienced anything of the sort.

As Kate turned her head, Aaron jolted his head back to his desk. If Kate could guess right, he was, was he...staring at her?! Anyone else would blush at the thought but not Kate; she just thought all things negative. Was he laughing at her, making some crude joke or just thinking 'God, what a slut'. Kate sighed and closed her eyes, trying to block out any negative thoughts. True, negativity was all she had nowadays but she tried her best to look at something else, anything!

She lifted her head and looked at Aaron again and waited to see if he'd look at her again. The seconds passed slowly and when he eventually did look back at her, he did the last thing she'd ever have expected. He smiled shy smile at her, before hastily looking away. It didn't take a genius to realise that he was embarrassed. Caught in the act of his cliché-ness of stupid movies where two people like each other and exchange glances without thinking the other had noticed. But Kate knew that life wasn't a move; Life is strange and horrible. It's cold and unforgiving and she wasn't going to be caught off guard.

Shaking the thought from her head, Kate just focused on her drawings. They were still depressing and as she scribbled away at paper for the remainder of the lecture, she couldn't help but picture Aaron and that meek smile he gave her. It kept cropping up, obstructing her artistic progress and it bothered her. She barely knew the guy and he was getting in her way. That was, of course, about to change.

The bell at 11:30 signalled the end of Mr Jefferson's lecture and started a rush of everyone leaving the class to go and carry on their day. Two people were, however, not in such a rush as their classmates.

Aaron packed his things away slowly, as if he wanted everyone else to leave before him and Kate just sat there, head down as always. The entrance of Aaron into her peripheral vision caused her head to lift and look at his lone blue eye staring back at her. Kate just stared back with an expressionless face. She was confused, who wouldn't be?!

-"Sorry you caught me staring, I guess I'm not as sharp as I thought I was" Aaron admitted as he leant against Kate's desk.

-"It's fine, just why were you looking at me?" Kate asked as she packed her things into her bag.

-"Just thinking" Aaron's tone was very bleak. He was clearly thinking of something that involved her.

-"Well, care to tell me what about?" Kate said without averting her attention from packing. She still sounded shy, but more...determined.

-"See, I could, or we could go for a walk first?" Aaron asked, indicating towards the door with his head.

Kate was hesitant; she couldn't help but be reminded the last time she went somewhere with a guy, what happened and how it ultimately ruined her life. She was scared even though she didn't know it.

Her facial expression must have gave her away because Aaron now had a small frown on his face. Kate couldn't help but feel upset as she'd made someone feel sad but she wasn't stupid. She knew nothing about Aaron and didn't wanna go through anything like that again. She'd been through two weeks of absolute torture and didn't need to add more fuel to the fire.

-"Look, I can see why you'd be afraid, hell-I would too if a complete stranger asked me to just walk off with them. You can say no if you want to, don't worry, I won't be offended if you decide you don't wanna but it'd be nice to spend some time with you. The real you"

Kate had to make a choice: Be safe and say no, but be alone again and lose all hope for finding someone to like her again or go with him. Aaron had his way of just making you trust him, whoever you were, you'd feel safe or at least secure with him. Kate needed this and she knew it; getting ready to take the massive leap, she put her back over her shoulder and followed this guy to wherever. Was it the right choice, or a complete mistake? Kate was fed up of mistakes, not this time.

 _ **A/N:-Yeah, shorter than you'd think and a semi-cliffhanger. You haven't gotta hate me, I already hate myself for doing this. Sorry if it's not what you'd expect but chapter 4 will be the continuation and the rest of it which I planned for one chapter. Again, so sorry about this, Thanks to those who followed/favorited and reviewed, you guys rock. As always, PM me with questions, Review, follow/fave and stick with it, there's gonna be more (Obviously)**_


	4. Chapter 4-Green Grass, Orange Sky

Chapter 4 :- Green grass, orange sky

 _ **A/N: - I know I'm shit for practically splitting the last chapter in two, but I wanted there to be like a sort of back-log while I was away?! Anyway, chapter 4 is here and yeah, the continuation of me being shit. Enjoy!**_

Blackwell was a place of beauty around mid-day; the contrasts of bright colours were truly a sight to behold and anyone would appreciate them. The faint sound of birds chirping and people talking could be heard as well as the tree's rustling in the faint breeze that was a welcoming feeling in the warm sun.

Aaron and Kate walked side by side out of the main door and onto the grounds of Blackwell. The atmosphere was not as tense as one would believe, it was fairly relaxed. The two dabbled in idle small talk-Aaron, trying not to come on to heavy to Kate and Kate being as polite as she always was. They made their way over to a picnic table that was placed on the grass, under a tree. The edge of the building was a nice addition as it blocked out the sun from blinding both of them. Kate sat down and took her drawing book out to continue drawing what she was working on in class while Aaron stood at the head of the table and looked out at the grounds. Without turning to look at her, Aaron asked:

-"So when was the last time you went out anywhere?"

-"Well I'm outside now" Kate replied as she looked up, only to find Aaron's back. Her tone was a lot more calmer than it was in class, yet her trademark timidness was still present.

-"That doesn't count, I mean like when was the last time you actually left Campus?"

-"Um, well, I kinda...haven't left since the vortex club party..." Kate admitted shyly.

Aaron was shocked by this and turned around to see Kate smiling coyly back at him.

-"You mean to tell me it's been like two weeks since you left this shit hole?"

-"Well I don't really have anyone to go out with so I kinda figured it would be best if I didn't go out at all"

-"Not if I have anything to say about it, you like Pizza?" Aaron asked as he walked a little further away from the table and took his camera out and started taking shots of what was in front of him-the bench, the tree, the building and Kate.

-"Yeah, everyone likes pizza, why do you ask?"

-"Because I am taking you out for Domino's tonight"

-"I thought you only wanted to be friends?" Kate asked in a joking manor. This offer was surprising yet it made her feel happy that someone wanted to do something with her. She was still on edge about spending time with anyone but hey, she took his offer to hang out now so why shouldn't she go get pizza?!

-"I do, friends have pizza, there's nothing unusual about that" Aaron defended himself as he pulled his face from behind the camera and gave Kate a playful smile.

-"Is it also normal for friends to take photos of each other?!" Kate joked as she smiled back. She never smiled and Aaron had realised that this was the first time he had seen her smile. He found it wonderful.

He would never left his affectionate side show, at least not yet. So rather than commenting on her smile, he just placed his head back into the camera again and prepared to take another photo. Still, the opportunity to show he cared about her was too great to pass up and while looking at her through the lens, Aaron said:

-"It's normal if they are beautiful enough to be in one" and snapped the photo.

The lighting was amazing; the suns glow as it crept from behind the building lit up the ground as if it was on fire. The shadow from the tree let in just enough light and Kate sitting at the table was just the perfect finisher that Aaron needed. He had a soft spot for her and he knew it. _Shit, what if she thinks I'm coming on too strong?" fuck, balls, piss um...urgh. Just breathe, don't react, and don't do anything. Just get up, put the camera away and sit opposite her._ Aaron thought as he acted out what he thought in his head.

Kate was in awe and she had to admit it; did he really just refer to her as beautiful?! _You're over-thinking, Katie, just forget what he said and move past it. You're enjoying yourself so don't ruin it by getting hung up on something that may or may not be true._ Kate thought as Aaron sat across from her, flipping his hair as he sat down. The atmosphere was great between the two, shame neither of them felt anything.

Aaron enjoyed spending time with Kate; it made him feel more relaxed than ever. He seemed relaxed all the time to everyone else so it was no surprise as to how he was acting right now. He hated to admit how much he liked a girl he barely even knew. Well, like was a strong word, he certainly felt something at least.

Kate was enjoying herself too; just spending time with someone else was a feeling she'd forgotten. She did find it weird how someone like Aaron would wanna spend time with her but she enjoyed the brief moments they had spend so far and looked forward to more. If literally walking outside and sitting down was ok, pizza would be even better.

-"Wow, I just got photographed by Aaron Heartfield, I should feel honoured" Kate joked with a chuckle.

-"Whadda you mean..." Aaron was cut off

-"Oh come on, how long did you think it would take for someone to find out about Greenwood?! I'm surprised nobody has brought it up" Kate said innocently.

-"Because as far as I'm aware, nobody else knows" Aaron replied in a low tone, trying to make sure nobody else knew about what Kate just brought up.

-"Ok, ok, I won't say no more about it, your secret's safe with me" Kate declared as she held out her hand for a handshake.

-"Thanks, I'd really appreciate it; so, pizza at what, we'll say seven? I would pick you up but my dad wouldn't let me bring my car with me to Blackwell so I guess I'll just meet you buy the bus stop?" Aaron asked as he shook Kate's extended hand.

-"Sure, seven sounds great but I'm not sure I'll be great company. Like I said, I haven't left Blackwell for weeks and I guess I might have forgot how to person" Kate explained as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck with her right hand, avoiding all eye contact with Aaron as she did so.

-"It's fine, I get it-oh, before you go, if you ever need someone to study with, my door's always open" Aaron said as he placed his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

And with that, they both turned around and went opposite ways; Kate headed back inside the main building, while Aaron roamed the grounds outside to look for someone to have a conversation with. Even though they were both heading in opposite directions, they did share one thing; the large smile on both their faces.

Kate had to admit, she had enjoyed the brief moment she had with Aaron, it gave her a feeling of acceptance that she hadn't had for a long time. He made her smile and was kind to her, that's all she could ever want and now her was offering to do something with her. She was getting a sense of normality back and it felt great but Kate was a smart girl, she knew that it didn't mean anything. It was a brief twenty minutes that they had spent in each other's company and as far as she knew, he could be a different person come later this evening. But for now, Kate was happy and she hadn't been happy in so long she was gonna take advantage of it, make it last as long as possible.

Aaron celebrated inside his mind as he congratulated himself on speaking to a girl 'in that way' and not screwing it up. Well, he saw it as 'that way' but it couldn't have been, could it?! Well he was seeing this girl who he so desperately wanted to get to know so it was a victory none the less. There was one dampener on the whole thing that Aaron couldn't bring his mind around though. If Kate had figured out about Greenwood, who else had?! None the less, Aaron saw Evan doing what he does best and decided to have a chat with him. He really couldn't stop making friends.

Victoria wasn't eves-dropping; she just happened to be walking around and heard what Kate had said. _Greenwood?!_ Victoria thought as her face crumpled up in confusion. She recognised it somehow, it seemed...familiar...and she was gonna find out why.

* * *

Chloe was unable to stop texting Max all day; her best friend collapses and all she could do was make sure she was ok every fifteen minutes. Chloe had practically turned into her mother since yesterday evening and despite it annoying Max, she couldn't help but find it funny. Nonetheless, Chloe stopped panicking when Max agreed to meet her after her Tuesday morning class.

Fast forward to the Two Whales Diner where Chloe had been waiting patiently for a solid 2 minutes since she sat down in their usual booth. Max must have thought her phone would have blown up dude to how it was constantly vibrating with messages from Chloe every three seconds. As Max sat on the bus, she couldn't help but smile thinking of Chloe's face which was showing more signs of stress than a smack head waiting to get a fix.

When Max did finally walk through the doors of the diner, Chloe's sigh of relief almost attracted the attention of every customer in the diner. To her relief, the only person who took any notice was the person she had spent the best part of 14 hours worrying about. _Now I know how mom feels..._ Chloe thought to herself, realising things from her mother's point of view. She was worried about Max and even though she was right in front of her, Chloe still felt as if her friend was not 100% there.

-"You've had me hella worried, Super Max" Chloe said as she stood up to hug her friend. "You fainted yesterday, as far as I knew, you could've died!" The statement was an exaggeration but Max was used to how Chloe put things across by now.

-"Chloe, I told you yesterday, I'm fine" Max said with a smile, she loved how concerned Chloe was "I texted you the words 'I'm ok' and 'I'll call you if something happens' more times that I blinked"

-"I worry about you girl, I don't wanna lose my number one hipster" both girls laughed at Chloe's statement. This is why they were friends, they just worked. "You hungry? Breakfast is on mom today" Chloe offered as she shoved a menu into Max's pale hands. "You need to eat, I don't want you fainting again" Chloe jested.

-"Oh my God, it was one time Chloe" Max said with a chuckle.

Everyone knew that both girls were untouchable as long as they were together. They were an indestructible force and everyone who knew them also knew that Arcadia Bay could throw whatever it wanted at the two girls and they would still come out strong. Friendship was the strongest kind of medicine and theirs was the strongest.

As Max sat there eating, Chloe couldn't help but think on what Aaron had said yesterday about her and Max. Chloe knew where both of them stood, they were friends and nothing more but seeing Max sit there in front of her with her doe eyes and freckled nose gave Chloe a feeling that she only felt around Max. Chloe hated thinking about these types of things, she hated feelings and thought she knew where she stood with at least Max. _Damn that little shit. If he hadn't said anything about me and Max, I wouldn't be thinking about this type of shit and having this conversation with myself._ Chloe thought to herself as she took a swing of her orange juice.

-"So whadda you wanna do today?" Chloe asked as Max finished up eating.

-"I don't mind but I don't wanna stay out to long cus I've got this project I need to work on. I'm trying to do a bit at a time and it needs to be finished by Friday" Max explained as she looked at her phone to check the time.

-"Urgh, don't be such a bore, Caulfield. I wanna do something nuts, y'know. Let's do something crazy, even for me!" Chloe suggested, the large grin in her face suggested she was already planning something.

Max just rolled her eyes as she slurped her drink through the straw that she currently had in her mouth.

-"My idea of crazy is putting the milk in the bowl before the cereal, you know I'll want no part of what you're planning" Max replied.

-"Yeah, but you'll end up being involved anyway, Super Max, you won't be able to say no" Chloe said as she took one of the mushroom's off of Max's plate and promptly eating it.

-"You haven't even told me what you're planning yet, Chloe"

-"Oh I have an idea, one not even you won't be able to resist"

-"The suspense is killing me" Max said sarcastically.

-"When was the last time you went swimming?" Chloe asked

-"I was still in Seattle as far as I remember. It's been a while though"

-"That settles it then" Chloe said as she stood up. Her face shone with joy as she knew of the mischief she was going to partake in. "I got a little bid'ness to take care off so you better let me crack on with it"

-"Plan to tell me what you're gonna do now?" Max asked as she turned to look at the now standing Chloe.

-"You'd die of disagreement if you knew" Chloe said with a little chuckle. "I'll be able to get it done faster on my own without you telling me how bad of a person I am so you go study while I make an appointment with some keys"

Max tried to protest but Chloe simply stuck her fingers in her ears and walked out of the diner, leaving Max alone with her thoughts. _Just what is she going to do now, she better not buy drugs_. Max thought to herself. She couldn't lie, she was really intrigued as to what Chloe was gonna get up to and just what she was planning.

Max would stand by Chloe until the end of time but sometimes, even she went too far and Max couldn't help but feel this would be one of those times. Even more so that she wasn't there to try and talk Chloe out of whatever she was inevitably gonna do.

 _It's times like these I wish I could just hide under a rock and allow my ignorance to keep me safe_. Max decided the best way to take her mind off of Chloe would be to go back to Blackwell and study. It would give her something useful to do with her day aswell, so two birds with one stone...kinda.

* * *

Aaron enjoyed History class but this one was particularly boring and he just couldn't wait for it to be over. _Talk about dragging_ he thought to himself as he left the classroom only to be stopped by Taylor's arm. Aaron looked up at her and waited to see what she had to say.

-"Hey, darkie, Victoria wants to see you"

-"And what does the glorious queen want me for?" Aaron asked. His plan to force interaction with her might have borne. _Did she just call me...darkie?!_

-"I dunno, she just texted me in the middle of that snooze-fest and told me to tell ya that she wants to speak to you" Taylor remarked as she looked down at her phone, not even bothering to look at Aaron.

-"Uh, ok and where does she wanna meet me?"

-"She said just go to her dorm room, she'll be waiting for you there. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got something called friends to see" and with that, Taylor sauntered off. Aaron had to admit, he was proud that his plan had seemed to work, now all he had to do was find out what she wanted to talk to him about.

He couldn't lie, he was a vain bastard; he enjoyed doing things no one else could do and he doubted that any new kid would be able to befriend Victoria Bitch Chase.

Aaron walked across Blackwell towards the girls' dorm; he climbed the steps and made his way to Victoria's room but was surprised to see the door was open and she was leaning against its open frame.

She turned right to face Aaron before bringing her left hand up and resting it across her forehead. Victoria prevented her eyes from ever looking at Aaron, as if he didn't deserve the time of day. Eventually, she spoke.

-"Certain things annoy me and when something annoys me, I wanna know why. Being a Chase has taught me determination, meaning if I don't know why something annoys me, I _will_ find out. You, you little shit have annoyed me to-wait, what are you doing?" Victoria couldn't help but look at him now.

Aaron had suddenly taken a knee and pulled his camera up to his face. He started taking a few photos before saying:

-"Yeah, carry on, I just can't let an opportunity like this pass up. The colour of the sky behind you and how it strikes your body, the contrast, the colours, I think a new photo just made my top ten. Anyway, how have I annoyed you?" Aaron asked, still shooting.

-"Urgh, yeah, you haven't taken any notice of your betters here, mainly me, you spend most of your time either alone or with that Bible Basher yet you're taking photos of me like. Like I'd actually want to model for someone like you"

-"You should really consider modelling, your figure's great" Aaron said, not looking up at Victoria, instead at his camera to see what his photo's looked like.

Victoria was shocked as to what Aaron just said although she wouldn't show it. Victoria finally relaxed her position off the doorframe and turned to face Aaron, waiting for him to get up.

-"Anyway, going back to my original point, I found out why you irritate me. I knew something was off and as soon as I heard you talking to Jesus' personal sunbeam, I had a lead. A lead I followed until I figured it out. 'Aaron Heartfield artist behind The Slopes of Salzburg and youngest person ever to have their work displayed at Greenwood International Art Gallery and Museum' you were only fourteen and yet you got a picture into the most famous Art Gallery in the world. The reason you go around the way you do is because you think you're better than everyone else"

Aaron felt like his skin was on fire; the comments about Kate, Victoria finding out about Greenwood and the fact she had everything all wrong infuriated him. His facial features slowly turned from relaxed to full of anger and Victoria could see. She slowly backed away from Aaron into her room as he began slowly making his way closer to her.

-"First of all, me and Kate are not together but that doesn't mean I have to let you talk about her that way. Secondly, I don't want anyone to know about Greenwood, I'd rather not have people all coming up to me and tryna befriend me when they don't even know me and thirdly, who the fuck are you to tell me that I think I'm better than everyone else!"

They were in the middle of the room now, only inches away from each other. Victoria stopped walking back and started doing what she does best, mouthing off.

-"Oh spare me the boo-who bullshit; you think you're so edgy the way you talk to people. You think you know everyone and have some divine right to be their friend, you're nothing but a delusional prick!"

-"Coming from little miss riddled with insecurities; why do you think you have the god given gift to make everyone feel shit around you. Reality check, you're not as perfect as you think you are!" Aaron retaliated with force.

In a blind rage, Victoria swung her right arm at Aaron in an attempt to hit him. His reflexes showed as he was able to catch her arm with his own before it struck him. He held on tightly as Victoria struggled to get away. Neither of them breaking eye contact, they both did what only felt right and to the other persons surprise, they were both feeling the same thing.

They pulled themselves together and began making out fiercely; Victoria wrapped her legs around Aaron's waist which was followed by him pushing her up against her wardrobe. His left hand supported her position on his waist while his right arm was strung out against the wardrobe.

Their faces remained glued to one another for several more seconds before they each retracted to catch their breath. A few seconds and pants later, they carried on making out, neither showing any signs of wanting to stop. Aaron pulled away from the wardrobe and they found themselves on Victoria's bed, still glued together.

As they continued swapping spit, Victoria's arms found her way to Aaron's jacket which she unzipped and pulled off him before discarding it to the ground which was promptly followed by his shirt. Both of them were thinking basic primal instincts right now. This wasn't a scene of love between Aaron and Victoria, it was man and woman doing what they were genetically known for.

After Victoria was done with Aaron's top half, he started working on her bottom half. Their lips remained locked as Aaron unzipped Victoria's skirt, he broke away to pull her tights down. Her shoes were already off so in one swift motion, Victoria's bottom half was bare.

Rather than return to making out, Aaron's head found another set of lips between Victoria's legs. Her hands pulled at his thick hair as she let out moans of pleasure. Both of them didn't even stop to think, his is happening.

The following hour was one tiring, sticky, sweaty bitter-sweet blur that ended with Aaron and Victoria naked and panting for breath on Victoria's bed. The realisation of what had happened had only now hit them...and it was incredibly awkward.

Aaron quickly got dressed and left Victoria's room in a hurry. He made his out of the girl dorm as fast as he could, flattening his hair down in an attempt to neaten it up after what had happened. He wanted nothing more than to take a shower and forget what just happened.

Victoria was still lying on her bed, stunned by what just happened. The only thing covering her was her blanket that she picked up from the floor, it had fallen off during... _that_ and Victoria couldn't help but smile. Things had just gotten more interesting.

Aaron was still in shock as the warm water from the shower struck his head. He was meeting Kate in just under an hour and surprisingly, he didn't feel any form of guilt. He just felt...dirty, an insatiable need to get clean. He had half hour to get to the bus but felt like he needed to shower for half a year. He was practically shaking as he thought: _That's what happens when you play with fire, it wouldn't be the first time you got burned_

 _ **A/N:- Ok, tenner bet none of you saw that happening; I know it was confusing but I'll just say try and think of opposites attract. If the end scene between Aaron and Victoria confused any of you and you're still confused, PM me and I'll try to explain. I know, I'm a confusing asshole.**_

 _ **The plot thickens as more shit is added to the mix...Chapter 5 will be out fairly soon, a safe bet would be to say no later than Friday as I've found inspiration again so no more half a year gaps (I know, I'm a bastard) Keep reading and as always, review, fave and follow and see if any of you can guess where the Max and Chloe subplot is heading. I think it's fairly obvious but I'm curious to know what you all think.**_

 _ **Confusing asshole awaaaaayyyy.**_


	5. Chapter 5-The Zen Garden

Chapter 5: The Zen Garden

Aaron checked his watch for the seventh time since he got to the bus stop as there was still no sign of Kate. _What if she hates me?! I mean, I deserve it but urgh, does she know what I did, does anyone?!_ Aaron thought to himself. He was so nervous that he'd start sweating anytime soon. _It's five to six, the bus'll be here at six o two and if she isn't here then, I guess she doesn't wanna come I_

Just as Aaron was coming to terms with the fact Kate might not want to go out anymore, she decided to come into his view as he leant off the wall he'd been resting on. As Kate walked timidly over to Aaron, she let out a meek little smile; I guess she was happy to see him. Aaron smiled back and offered a small wave as he walked to meet her.

-"Three minutes, cutting it a bit close there, weren't we?!" Aaron joked as he met Kate. Even as he was stressing out over what had happened between him and Victoria, he still kept up his friendly, confident persona.

-"Sorry, I was making sure Alice had enough food and water while I was out and also that her cage was locked. The last thing I'd wanna do is have her get loose" Kate replied as she brought her left arm across her body to hold her right arm as it hung by her side.

-"Don't worry about it, I get it. I hope you're hungry"

-"Are you kidding, I haven't eaten all day just to give myself an excuse to pig out tonight" Kate Stammered, letting out a soft chuckle.

The bus came and both of them got on and found a seat next to each other on the around the middle of the bus. Due to it being a Wednesday evening, the bus was pretty vacant. Not many people had a reason to go out during the middle of the week. Aaron just scrolled through facebook, not wanting to make Kate feel uncomfortable. She wasn't much of a talker and with everyone bullying her, her want for conversation had decreased.

Aaron knew how uncomfortable she was right now, sitting next to him. He was probably the first person Kate had trusted to this extent since the Vortex Club party and he knew this was a big step forward for her. He could tell she wasn't in the mood to talk due to the fact she only looked out the window or down at the floor. Aaron wanted nothing more than to put her arm around her and tell her everything will be ok but knew it wasn't his place.

Kate did feel a certain form of Anxiety as she sat there next to a boy she'd only spoken to three days. She couldn't help but think if anyone wanted to be friends with her, it would be Aaron. He'd been nothing but kind to her since he met her and made her smile more in those three days than she had for the past few weeks. The number of times she smiled may be in single digits but it's more than not smiling at all.

Kate liked the fact that Aaron wanted to spend time with her, she felt as if she was slowly being more and more accepted into the social fold again. Aaron didn't have a click or anything, he was his own person who was liked by many of the students at Blackwell due to the fact he couldn't give anyone a reason not to like him and if he liked Kate, other people would surely start to treat her like a person again.

The two spent the journey into the town centre relatively quiet; they did make small talk once or twice but nothing to hold a conversation over. After about ten minutes on the bus, they got off and began to make their way down the street to Domino's.

The two stood outside Domino's in silence as the observed the building in front of them and the sign saying 'Private Party, closed until 9:30pm. Sorry for any inconvenience' that was posted in a window near the door.

Aaron and Kate looked at each other with black expressions on their faces. Aaron sighed and put his hands in the pockets of his black jacket and Kate held her arm and looked at the floor like she usually does.

-"Well, I guess that means no food for us, thanks for at least trying Aaron" Kate reflected, breaking the silence.

-"What, are you kidding?! Just 'cus Domino's is closed doesn't mean we can't eat" Aaron countered, causing Kate to look at him all confused. "You like Chinese food?" Aaron asked as he gestured Kate away from Domino's as he started walking away.

The two headed off into another part of town after Aaron explained to Kate that he knew a local Chinese that they could go to instead. Kate just agreed and followed Aaron along the sidewalk. The sun was just setting ad the streetlights were yet to turn on as the two walked in silence down the road.

Kate couldn't lie, when Aaron said Chinese, she thought he meant a local takeaway but what she was met with was a full blown oriental-themed restraint. The building was red in colour and seemed to span three floors tall with the top floor looking like some form of rooftop garden. The words 'The Zen Garden' were spelled out above the double doors at the entrance in a stereotypical Asian font despite the words being spelled in English.

The two entered the building and stopped at a podium and waited to be seated. Not long after, an Asian man in a grey shirt and black waistcoat came upto them.

-"Good evening and welcome to the Zen Garden; do you have a reservation for tonight?" He asked politely.

-"No, but I was wondering if I could get a table for two?" Aaron replied. He seemed calm but on the inside he was freaking out. _Shit, if this is one of those reservation-only places, I'll just look like a mug._

-"That'll be no problem at all, Sir" The maitre'd followed up with as he produced a walkie talkie from his hip and spoke what Aaron would presume was Chinese into it, without being considered racist, well it was a Chinese restaurant after all. Seconds later a second man appeared only this one was wearing a white shirt under his waist coat. "This is Zhao and he'll be looking after you tonight" The maitre'd concluded as he turned his attention to the podium and began writing something down.

-"Xiānshēng, Fūrén, if you'd like to follow me" Zhao said after a short bow, before turning away and walking off. Aaron and Kate followed Zhao up to the second floor where he seated them in a small booth, in the middle of the floor. After making sure they were happy with their seating, he turned and left.

Aaron instantly picked the menu up and looked at what they had to offer. Kate, on the other hand, was still stunned by how beautiful the place was. From the crimson red walls with the golden details painted on them, to the dark green leather of the seats that she was sitting in. The thing that caught Kate's eyes the most was the solid golden statues in the corners of the floor. They resembled things such as a dragon, a rabbit and an ox. Kate would have to guess that they represented the animals on the Chinese calendar and that the other animals would be on the other floors.

-"Well, I can't speak for you, but this seems like a step up from your average Domino's" Aaron chuckled as he looked up at Kate. Kate stopped looking at the yellow tassels that were dotted around the ceiling to look back at Aaron.

-"I'll certainly agree with you there but this place seems too fancy. I can't imagine how much the food will cost!" Kate acclaimed in her usual shy tone.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, nothing seems to be over fifty dollars" Aaron replied nonchalantly as he looked back at the menu.

 _Did he just say fifty?! Oh gosh, I hope there's something more cheaper, I didn't think I'd be eating at some five star restaurant tonight._ Kate thought in fret as she slowly opened the menu. The 'Buddha's delight' caught her eye; it came with two spring rolls for only $21.95 and a drink of her choice. Kate opted for that straight away and put her menu down to indicate she was ready to order.

As if on cue, Zhao was by the table's side, notepad in hand, ready to take her order.

-"Are you ready to order, Fūrén?" Zhao asked

-"I'd like the Buddha's delight with the spring rolls please"

-"And what drink would you like with that?"

-"Just some ice water please"

-"And for you, Xiānshēng?" Zhao asked as he turned to Aaron who was just putting his menu down.

-"I'd like the Char siu with a bowl of regular dumplings, please"

-"And to drink?"

-"Some Pepsi would be great, thanks"

Once Zhao had their order, he lightly bowed again and walked off.

The atmosphere was calm and relaxing; Kate and Aaron stared at each other with warm smiles, appreciating the other person's company. The orange-ish lights let of a really welcoming and chilled out glow that would make even the angriest person calm.

Kate was glad Aaron asked her to come for food and she was glad she took a chance and accepted. Hopefully, the food would be worth the price and she'd be able to continue having a good time.

 _God she's pretty_ Aaron thought as he looked at Kate. Of course, he'd never tell her this, they didn't know each other well enough yet. Things were going good between the two so far and Aaron didn't want to fuck them up.

-"Ugh, Kate, could you do me a favour and look to your right" Aaron asked as he scratched the back of his neck, feeling slightly awkward.

-"Uh, ok, like this?"Kate asked as she moved her head.

-"Yeah, that's great, now bring your left arm up and sort of rest it underneath your chin" Aaron called back as he took his camera out of his bag.

Kate did what Aaron asked and tried her best to keep a straight face. She liked it when he took pictures of her; it made her feel all special inside. A feeling she can't remember ever feeling before.

Aaron did his trademark three-photo shoot; one landscape, one portrait and a final landscape one before looking down at the on his camera.

-"So, how bad do I look? Kate asked as she turned to face Aaron.

-"Bad?" Aaron said with a confused look. "You gotta be kidding me if you thing you look anything short of magnificent. The colours in here are grate and the way the light hits your beautiful face makes it even better" _Shit, just called her beautiful again, what happened to keeping it on the down low?!_ Aaron asked himself as he looked back at the camera to avoid Kate's gaze.

Kate couldn't help but smile, she truly felt wanted by someone. Someone who wanted to spend time with her, someone to be around. She had missed human interaction these last few weeks.

-"You're one of a Kind, Aaron, you know that" Kate proclaimed as she smiled at him.

-"Well, what can I say, good looks, stunning intellect, muscles Hercules would be jealous off...need I go on" He jested, causing Kate to let out another chuckle.

When the conversation ended, their food arrived; the two of them spoke and ate as if they'd known each other a lot longer than three days and really enjoyed each other's company. Aaron was doing his best to tell himself he didn't feel anything for her when he knew that was bullshit and Kate was happy to be speaking to someone who could be genuine with her again. On top of that, the food was absolutely outsanding.

Aaron offered to pay the full bill but Kate insisted that they both pay their equal share and wouldn't take no for an answer. She did appreciate the gesture though.

They made their way out of the building and headed to the bus stop. By now, the sun had set and the night air began to creep up on them. It was fairly fine at first but then started becoming colder as they were outside longer. Aaron could see Kate shivering and offered her his jacket. She refused, saying she'd be fine without it until the bus comes.

The bus would be there in five minutes but Aaron didn't like the sight of Kate shivering, it made him feel useless and just vacant. _I can't believe I'm doing this_ Aaron thought as he extended his left arm around Kate and rested it on her shoulder.

-"Relax, I'm not making a move, I just can't bare the sight of you being cold. Hey, who knows, maybe I'll warm up a bit, too" Aaron joked.

Kate just looked at the floor; she trusted Aaron and could see that he was just trying to be a gentleman and keep her warm.

The bus arrived a few minutes later and the two sat in silence until they were on it on the return trip to Blackwell. They both had to admit, it was defiantly warmer on the bus than outside. It was around about quarter past seven by the time the two got back onto the academy grounds. Aaron walked Kate over to the girls' dorm to say goodnight.

-"Thanks for tonight Aaron; I had a really good time. It was nice to do something with someone for a change and not be stuck here all day"

-"The pleasure was all mine; I'm glad you enjoyed and if you ever wanna do anything else, you know where I am. I enjoy spending time with you Kate so I hope you'll let me take you out again" Aaron replied as he placed his hands in his pocket and flipped his hair to the side, revealing his other blue eye for the first time tonight.

-"Gee Aaron, I don't know if I'm ready to start dating right now, I mean with everything that's gone on and I'd hate to drag you into-." Kate was cut off.

-"I didn't mean like a date or anything, just, y'know, hanging out or whatever. You're a really nice person to be around and yeah, that's just it. And don't worry, I get it Kate, you don't need to explain anything to me" Aaron said behind a weak, yet confident smile.

-"Sure, if I ever feel like going out anywhere again, you'll be the first person I ask"

-"Glad I did something right, goodnight Kate"

-"Goodnight Aaron"

And with that, Kate headed to her room and Aaron headed to his own dorm. It wasn't too late, Aaron figured he could bum youtube or hack into the Pentagon again, wait, that didn't really happen, did it? Anyway, Aaron's plans for a quiet night were dashed when he saw Chloe Price walking towards the girls' dorm. He just didn't know it yet.

Aaron was about to talk to her, when he heard the dorm main door swing open and:

-"Chloe?" Aaron questioned.

-"Max!" Chloe said.

-"Aaron?" Max completed the name circle as she stepped out of the dorm.

-"Ok, I'm confused, what have you two got planned now? It better not involve trains again?" Aaron said, only half serious.

-"If I knew, I'd tell you; Ms Price has neglected to tell me of what she has planned tonight" Max answered as she crossed her arms and looked at Chloe, expecting an answer.

-"Calm down children, all will be revealed soon. Speaking of, Aaron, wanna tag along? You seem like the only person who's not some mindless zombie in this school. Apart from you, my dear Max"

-"Run Aaron, while you still have the ability to think. Whatever Chloe has in mind will probably get you lobotomized" Max joked as she shot a death glare at Chloe, who responded in putting her arms up in surrender.

-"Oh come on, Max Factor, I'd never go that far" Chloe defended.

-"Wow, wow, wow, let's all calm down for a second. Chloe, will this plan of yours be so incredibly immoral, I could end up either getting arrested and/or expelled from Blackwell?"

-"One hundred and twelve per cent, yes" Chloe responded with a big smile on her face.

-"Ok, I'm in"

-"Wow, I like this guy more and more, you better be careful he doesn't replace you as my new BFF, Max" Chloe joked as she turned around and started walking.

-"Can you at least tell me where we're going now?" Max asked after letting out a loud sigh.

-"Back to school, of course" Chloe replied as she took out a set of keys from her pocket and waved them in the air without turning around.

-"You two are nuts" Aaron chirped in as he followed Chloe and a less exited Max.

Max hated the fact that she always followed what Chloe was doing; she knew that this was most probably illegal and yet she was still going along with it. Max tries to lie to herself and tell her that she's just going to make sure Chloe doesn't get in EVEN MORE trouble but deep down, she knows that she just wants to be with her best friend.

Aaron had to admit, he was a bit nervous as to what was going on. If Max was right, Chloe really does some stupid shit and he could get seriously hurt. If Max is over exaggerating, which she most probably was, then he couldn't deny himself the pleasure of being able to go along with it and see what thrills followed. True, he was smarter than this, but he was also smart enough to get himself out of a situation where he'd end up in trouble.

Chloe was just her usual loose cannon self; she was a full bread adrenalin junkie and couldn't resist the thought of doing something she found fun and that would also piss a lot of certain people off if they found out. She didn't expect Aaron to actually tag along, she had just used him as a catalyst to get Max to go along with her. _If it has to be someone, I'm glad it's this guy and not some weirdo that lurks around Blackwell_ Chloe though as she approached the front of the Academy.

-"So, Aaron, this is it. Once you step through these doors, there's no going back. You'd officially be in this as much as us and will probably end up either seriously hurt or have serious fun. Do you accept?" Chloe asked as she turned the lock and opened the doors.

-"The risks outweigh the reward but that's why I can't say no" Aaron replied as he walked past Chloe, into the school, bowing as he entered.

-"You're now the first person to ever accompany me or Max on one of our many treasure hunts" Chloe said as she gave Max a playful wink as she eventually followed Aaron and Chloe inside.

-"I wouldn't call this a treasure hunt, doofus" Max responded. She was still clearly not happy with what was happening.

-"Boring people aside, you know how to swim, Aaron?" Chloe asked as she led the two down to the changing rooms.

-"Well I was my Middle School one thousand meter champion so, yes, I'd say I can" Aaron said in a joking way. "I'm serious though, I really do enjoy swimming"

-"Good, then you'd be glad to see what we have behind door number one"

Max was happy to figure out that they were going swimming in the Blackwell Pool. It put her mind to rest as it seemed like a fairly safe and less destructive alternative to what she had been thinking. She was grateful for the hint Chloe gave her earlier this morning as she was able to go out on a limb and wear her swimsuit instead of regular underwear. She figured what Chloe had in mind involved water and Max would rather be safe than sorry.

When they got to the changing rooms, Chloe stopped and asked Max what one she'd rather go in. Max replied with a simple "Duh, the girls' one" and made her way inside. Chloe followed and called out "Boy or Girl? Go nuts" to Aaron as she disappeared behind the brick wall.

It was at this point Aaron thought of his life like some video game with a very linear choosing system. Boys or Girls? True, he'd seen the inside of the boys whenever he'd use it but at the same time, he didn't wanna see like a pervy creep by going into a room with two girls getting changed. _Fuck it, it's College_ he thought as he walked into the girls changing room and took his bag off.

-"Bold move mister Heartfield"

-"C'mon, you telling me you've never been curious as to what the other changing room looks like" Aaron replied as he faced away from Max and Chloe.

He was trying to show some sign of respect and give them the privacy they deserved. Aaron wasn't that desperate to see two girls getting changed and on top of that, he'd see them in their swim suits when they were in the pool anyway so he didn't see what the big deal was about trying to 'catch a glimpse'.

Aaron was half way through taking his shirt off when he let out an "Ah shit" drawing the attention of Max and Chloe.

-"Something wrong, Aaron?" Max asked innocently as she looked over at him.

-"I just realised, I didn't bring any swim shorts with me"

-"You got underwear on, what's the difference" Chloe said in retaliation as she threw something over to him. "Or you could wear those"

Aaron looked down and saw what Chloe had thrown him. It was some dirty, old, scruffy bottom half to a girls' swimsuit.

-"Uh, I think I'll pass, I don't think the colour goes with my eyes" Aaron joked as he threw them back to Chloe who was laughing heavily. "Just hope I decided not to wear my Y-fronts" He said with a wink and a laugh at Chloe.

-"Max, Aaron is way funnier than you, I'm seriously considering him as my replacement if you die" Chloe called as she made her way out of the changing rooms and to the pool.

-"Aaron, do me a favour and throw her in for me" Max asked as Aaron who chuckled as he walked past her and exited the changing rooms.

Aaron couldn't lie, he did not envision his night going from having dinner with a girl he low key knew he liked to going swimming with two of his friends in the Blackwell swimming pool...at night...in his underwear. Pretty strange day but he wasn't gonna complain, swimming always relaxed him in school and with what happened earlier with Victoria still plaguing his mind, it couldn't hurt to just unwind on the water for a bit.

Aaron walked out with his arms crossed over his chest and holding onto his shoulders, doing as much to cover his body as he could. Despite it being fairly toned, he was a skinny guy and overly self conscious. The fact he couldn't cover up his legs, nearly caused him to sweat but when he saw Chloe, he realised that if someone came to him and said they were self conscious, he'd tell them to embrace who they are and not be ashamed of it...so he figured he'd take his own advice and act like there's nothing wrong. It truth, nothing was, but try telling Aaron that.

-"Sure you wanna leave that necklace on, black, you might lose it" Chloe said as she gestured to Aarons Pentagram necklace with her head.

-"I could say the same thing to you, blue" Aaron quipped as he let out a soft grin.

-"Touché, one eye guy" Chloe said through a small smile of her own and as if on cue, Aaron flipped his hair like he always does, going from one eye, to two.

-"So, seeing Max like that has gotta make you realise how much you like her, right?"

-"Well, that came out of nowhere and besides, I've already told you, Max is my friend, nothing more" Chloe protested.

-"Oh really, well I'm no idiot, Chloe, I know you like her even if you don't know it yourself"

Chloe was started to get a bit annoyed at how much Aaron made her question her relationship with Max. She had never thought of the probability of being more than friends until Aaron brought it up. It sucked to look at Max in those two ways. Chloe decided to try and shut him up, find a way for him to think she doesn't have feelings for Max.

-"Ok mister 'I know everything' I have a crush on my best friend, would I do this" Chloe placed her left hand on Aaron's shoulder and leant in and kissed him.

After processing what had happened, Chloe was already retreating from what she had done. Aaron just nodded slowly to himself and walked back until he was at the edge of the pool and when he got there, he stuck out his arms and fell in.

Aaron knew what Chloe was tryna do, shake him off. He had no second thought in his mind about how Chloe viewed him and he was persistent to show her. Aaron knew that Chloe only say him as a friend and nothing more and his thoughts on how Chloe felt about Max were only further supported.

Chloe just hoped it would be enough to shut Aaron up for a bit about her and Max. She couldn't lie, there were worse guys she could've kissed but that didn't mean she liked him. True she thought he was pretty sound but nothing more than a friend.

Chloe jumped in the pool soon after, cannon-balling next to Aaron, causing a big splash. Aaron proceeded to flick water at Chloe as a means of revenge. Max heard all the commotion as she was finished undressing. She made her was to the edge of the pool and looked down at Aaron and Chloe splashing each other like a bunch of children.

-"So, race ya to the end of the pool and back" Aaron called as he already started swimming. Chloe tried to protest but came to no avail.

Chloe swam as fast as she could after Aaron as Max eventually emerged from the changing rooms. Max lowered her legs into the deeper end of the pool as she sat on the edge and watched her two friends in a race up and down the pool.

Max couldn't help but be a bag of nerves; she knew what they were doing was incredibly wrong and if anyone decided to come and check out the pool for whatever reason, she'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble. _Come on Max, just calm down. No one's gonna catch you. All the lights are off and you're not making enough noise to be heard._ Max thought to herself as she scanned the room.

-"Are you eventually gonna come in or just leave that bony ass of yours on the sidelines?" Chloe asked as she swam over to Max, breaking her thought process.

-"Gee, Chloe, I don't know. It's not exactly the warmest I've been and I can't see how getting in a pool would help" Max argued as she looked over at her best friend.

-"Once you're in, you can't even feel the cold. It's actually quite relaxing" Chloe replied as she batted her best puppy dog eyes at Max and started tugging on her leg.

-"Well, I'd rather stay up here for now, it's a lot more dryer and I wouldn't wanna ruin the fun" Max replied as she gently tried to kick free from Chloe's grasp.

-"Well, I think Aaron has other idea's" Chloe said as she gestured behind Max with her head.

As Max turned her head, she was met with a pair of arms wrapping themselves around her and the next thing she felt was the awakening water of the pool.

When Max eventually surfaced, she was met by the hysterical laughter of Chloe who found the whole ordeal extremely hilarious. Aaron was panting to get his breath back as he looked at Max and offered a small, playful wink at her.

-"What can I say, I couldn't resist" Aaron said, breaking the silence as he swam closer to the two girls.

All three of them enjoyed the brief time they had in the Blackwell Academy swimming pool. Time seemed to pass slowly as they were able to chill out and forget about things like School and social problems for a while. It was quit the experience, one they would not soon forget. When the time came to leave, they all showered, got changed and made their way back to their dorms as if it never happened. All three of them knew they would be doing this again.

 _ **A/N:-OK, first off I know I said this chapter would be ready by last Friday and it was. My laptop charger decided now would be a good time to finally die of whatever terminal disease it had. No power means no upload. Sorry If that annoyed any of you, but yeah.**_

 _ **If the end of the chapter seems rushed, that's cus when I finally got a new charger, I went over some stuff to make things flow better (I Probably failed badly) but realised it's now Wednesday so I wanted to get it out as soon as possible. Lemme know if you'd rather wait for a chapter and have it at a good standard or you'd rather I rush to get it out by some sort of deadline?**_

 _ **With feedback to the '-' at the start of every line of dialogue, I put it in place so you guys had a way of knowing when a new character was speaking. If it does annoy a majority of you for whatever reason, lemme know and it'll go.**_

 _ **As always, Follow, Favourite and Review; the reviews I had on the last chapter really caused me to pump this out as soon as I could so if that keeps up, expect the next chapter sooner than later (Unless you all would rather I take my time)**_


	6. Chapter 6-The Grey Area

Chapter 6:-That Grey Area

 _ **A/N:- I just wanna start off by saying a massive thank you to everyone who's reviewed, followed and favorited the story so far, it's really motivating me to progressively pump out chapters regularly. The positivity I've had is really something and I thank you all for it.**_

 _ **Also, in terms of sex scenes, would you rather they be described in detail, like extreme NSFW fashion, or just keep them short and brief, with little description like the scene between Aaron and Victoria? It's upto you guys, what would you rather see?**_

 _ **Along the lines of NSFW scenes, I'd like to propose a question to you all. At the end of the story, should I include like a 'deleted scenes' addition where two or more characters will interact in a way they wouldn't normally in this canon? It's upto you, just lemme know what you'd think about the idea.**_

Kate had slept better than she had in weeks that night. Awakening with a smile that had remained hidden for so long, Kate opened her windows, allowing the morning sun to light up her room. Kate leant against her window and listened to the sounds of the birds tweeting and singing in the morning air.

She couldn't help but think about her night with Aaron and the time they've been spending together. The more rational, academically intelligent side of her was just happy to be having the friendly human interaction she didn't know she'd been craving, brushing it off as just being gradually accepted back into society. Yet, that small, schoolgirl inside everyone couldn't help but think the same thing over and over again. _What if he likes me?_

Before getting ready for the day, Kate pushed a small leaf of lettuce into Alice's cage. Kate loved that rabbit, probably more than anyone at Blackwell...or so she thought. Smiling one more time before leaving, Kate Marsh felt more alive. Her morning couldn't have been any more like a Disney Princess' if she tried.

Aaron's morning, however, was the exact opposite of Kate's cheerful morning. Zach De La Rocha screaming _'Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me'_ filled the room as Rage Against The Machine's Killin' in the Name blared from Aaron's phone. A comfortable sound to wake him from his slumber.

Aaron's right arm swung out from his face down, sleeping form, trying desperately to turn off the thunderously loud alarm. He only succeeded in catapulting his phone off charge and onto the floor. Realising he wouldn't be able to reach it from his bed, Aaron got up, groaning as he swivelled around to the floor. _Fuckin' mornings_ He grumbled to himself as he picked up his phone and turned off the alarm.

Kate's room allowed the morning light to shone through and was filled with morning colours while Aaron's dark blue curtains remained closed and caste a sombre dark tint. Almost encasing the room in darkness. Another morning that Aaron hated and wanted to do nothing more than crawl back under the covers. This time, he did.

After the events in the swimming pool the previous evening, Aaron had showered when he got back to the dorms to wash off all the chlorine. Another shower so soon seemed pointless so he just used the extra half hour to hide away from the world once again.

Wednesday morning was a slow period; Aaron just sat in class with such little interest and his facial expression showed it. He was really regretting the half hour lie in he had.

Mr Jefferson finished his lecture and assigned the class a task to finish before the end of class. Aaron was just glad to be doing something again, rather than fall asleep listening to Mark Jefferson drone on about the importance of lighting.

"Hey Aaron, I just wanted to let you know I'm grateful for you taking me out last night. I didn't know how much I needed it" Kate called over from her seat

Aaron smiled and replied with "It was my pleasure, I was glad to help" he liked it when Kate spoke to him first, it made him feel like she trusted him more and more. "If you're up for it, we could probably do something like that again? I'm just a phone call away"

"I'd really like that, thank you" Kate replied with a smile as she moved a piece of her hair out of her face.

As Aaron turned back to his work, he was met with Max stairing smugly at him, while chewing her pencil in the corner of her mouth. Every part of Aaron's anatomy was telling his face to turn bright red with embarrassment but he wouldn't have it. So, opting to stick his tongue out and giggle along with Max was what he did instead.

"I've never seen anyone make Kate this happy in a while, well done you" Max spoke up, breaking the giggling stairs between the two.

"Well, I figured she needed to get out of this shit hole for a while. Like you said, a long time since she's been happy. Aaron replied as he flicked his hair to the right and out of his face.

"Chloe's parents are going out of town next month and all she's been going on about is throwing a 'hella insane party-o'" Max said as she gestured the quote marks "I reckon she'd let you bring Kate"

"Woah, wait a minute, what makes you think I'm invited?" Aaron asked.

"You kidding, you're like Chloe's second favourite person right now, she'd be insulted if you DIDN'T come" Max answered, emphasising her point as she said 'didn't'.

"Well when you put it like that, might have to come then, won't I?!" Aaron said with a smile before turning back to his work.

Aaron couldn't lie, he enjoyed Blackwell, it was a decent...challenge, so to speak. Not only that but he thought the people there were great. And it was with that thought, he felt a compelling urgh to turn around and low and behold, Victoria was looking at him. She made no effort to hide it, in fact, she offered a sudden wink in his direction the second he noticed her. Aaron just stared at her blankly, determined not to show any hint of bother. This was made all the more harder when she blew a large bubble of her bubble gum, Aaron knew the gesture was intended for him.

After stairing at her blankly for the next few seconds, the bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson. Aaron couldn't have thought it could have come any quicker.

In a blind hurry to avoid Victoria, Aaron accidentally bumped into Warren

"Oh sorry man, didn't see you there"

"Hey, Aaron, its cool man, don't worry about it-oh, while you're here, a couple of the guys are coming over to my dorm for a horror marathon tonight, you up for it?"

"Yeah dude, sure, why not" Aaron replied with a smile "What time shall I turn up?"

"About six-ish"

"See you then dude" Aaron replied as he gave Warren a fist bump before walking off.

 _He's so Cool_ Warren thought as he watched Aaron walk away.

"Really Max, it was so nice, the food there was spectacular. He really made me feel like a person" Kate said as she walked out the front doors of the school halls with Max.

"That's great, Kate; it's so cool to see you two together" Max replied as she offered a small smile.

"Oh, no Max, I think you're confused. We're not-I mean I'd like to-it's just too-..." Kate trailed off as her face went red with embarrassment.

"I don't know, Kate, you sure that you guys will be just friends for much longer?" Max asked as they stopped walking to face each other.

"I don't know, Max; I mean, he's so cool and everyone likes him and I'm just..." Kate stopped and looked at the floor.

"Smart, kind, amazing, need I go on?" Max said as a way of reassuring her friend she was more than what she thought.

"We're just friends, Max, nothing more" Kate replied, she couldn't help but have a smile on her face as she thought about the two of them.

She didn't know, it seemed almost too fairytale, that and they didn't really know each other that well. True, he'd taken her out to dinner but that was just that, dinner, one time. _Who knows, we'll have to see._ Kate thought to herself as her and Max continued to walk back to the girls dorms.

Life had a funny way of working, Kate knew that but what she had experienced in the past few weeks was just confusing to say the least. Growing up sucked, going to school sucked but both of them together was just a recipe for disaster.

The reminder of the day went fairly quick; around four, Aaron decided to catch a nap while he could as he had no idea how long he'd be up for while watching all the movies Warren had planned.

He lay back on his bed, on top of the covers and let his head fill with all sorts of distractions in the hope sleep would take him as soon as possible. He thought of Kate first of all, he thought about spending more and more time with her and doing all sorts of fun things, like going bowling or to the beach with a bunch of people when the sun was out.

This trailed on to Aaron thinking about the friends he'd made in the few days he'd been at Blackwell. Max and Chloe, Warren and Luke, Daniel and Evan, the list went on. Aaron was happy to be seeing more people later, he just loved being sociable and doing shit with people. Hell, he hadn't seen a good movie in ages and what better circumstances to see a whole bunch in one go?!

The seconds turned into minutes and before Aaron realised, he was gone, passed out, having a kip. He couldn't lie, it seemed really nice, despite being so short. Once again, his fucking bastard alarm woke him from yet another peaceful sleep.

Aaron tided himself up and walked down the hall to Warren's room; he knocked on the door and was after a bellowing "come in" Aaron entered.

As he closed the door behind him, Warren stood up and offered his hand to his friend. Aaron accepted and flicked his hair out of his eye as he looked to see who was in the room.

There were a few of chairs as well as a two, two seater couches all crowded around Warren's 40inch flat screen. They all waved to Aaron and as they did, he was able to see who was there: Stella was sitting on one of the folding chairs, Daniel was on one two-seater and Brooke was on the final two-seater.

"Right, now we're all here, I'm gonna go meet Luke and pick up a little something from a little someone and we can get this party started" Warren said in a very cringe worthy way as he shot a finger gun with his right hand before leaving the room.

"What's he mean by that?" Aaron asked with a little laugh, amused by what Warren had said.

"He's gone to get some weed" Brooke said, not taking her eyes off of her green finger nails. "Warren's just tryna copy those assholes at the Vortex club. Just because they have weed at gatherings, Warren thinks we should"

"Has he ever smoked weed before?" Aaron asked.

"Once, but he couldn't keep it down" Brooke replied, chuckling as she remembered the incident.

Aaron liked the atmosphere in the room, it was very friendly and everyone seemed chilled out without any weed, if you could believe it. The curtains were drawn closed and the lights were off, the only thing illuminating the screen was the home screen of Warren's Netflix account on the TV.

Everyone in the room could be considered as a type of outcast at Blackwell; they knew Aaron rubbed shoulders with People like Hayden, Zach and Logan and were all kinda shocked that he was spending time with them. Little did they know that Aaron spent time with everyone, just because they'd seen him with people like that, didn't mean he belonged exclusively to that social circle.

"So, where am I sitting?" Aaron asked as he noticed there was an empty seat next to the three people still in the room.

"Next to me" Brooke said, looking up this time" Warren was sitting here but I recon it'll be funny if you take his seat even though there are spares here"

"Can't argue with that" Aaron said as he sat down.

"Hey Aaron" Daniel said as Aaron sat down.

"Yo man, how you doing?" Aaron asked as he smiled back at him.

"So, I'll need to hand in a drawing next week and haven't any idea's yet, I'd um...I'd really like it if you'd let me draw you?" Daniel asked in a shy timid tone.

"Yeah dude, I think that'd be awesome! Aaron replied with genuine excitement.

Nothing really happened as the group waited for Warren and Luke to turn up; there was the odd talk about what they'd watch and something shit like the weather or how school was going.

They were all bored and the good mood at the start was starting to sour. Daniel idly doodled in his notepad, Aaron went on his phone and Stella just sat there, all quiet-like. Brooke slid down in her couch and put her red tight-covered legs up on the small table that was in between everyone.

As if on cue, Warren turned up with Luke. Everyone cheered sarcastically as the two entered the room.

"You took so long, Aaron stole your seat as a punishment" Brook called in her dry humorous tone.

"It's ok, he can have it" Warren replied as he sunk down into the chair besides Stella while Luke jumped over the back of the two-seater and next to Daniel and threw the baggie over to Brooke to roll.

Aaron found himself confused; he never figured anyone in the room to be the type to smoke weed. Then again, most people in America did do he shouldn't be surprised if he saw someone like Max smoking...actually yes, he should be surprised if he saw that.

Idle chatter went on as Brooke rolled a 'fat one' and Warren scrolled through Netflix and Aaron's eyes remained glued to the screen, watching dhow after show pass him by.

The arguments over what film to watch were inevitable but luckily, they only lasted for a short time before the group settled on As Above, So Below. In Aaron's eyes, a horror movie was a great way to start a 'horror movie marathon' off.

When she was finished, Brooke sparked up the joint and took a drag. When she was finished, she passed it to Aaron who didn't even bother looking up from his phone.

"No thanks, none for me" he said nonchalantly.

"What, you don't smoke?" Brooke asked as she leaned over and passed the joint to Luke.

"Nah, not my style. I mean, I do my own share of illegal shit, this isn't one of them"

"Oh, come on it'll be legal in like a year anyway" Brooke replied.

"I'm good, thanks" Aaron said as he looked up and into her eyes.

Daniel also skipped the joint, not really a big surprise, allowing it to land with Luke. Warren had a few drags in an effort to seem cool but you could tell he never does weed, or smoke for that matter. Stella felt comfortable enough to try it for the first time; of course, everyone made a big point of 'you don't have to if you don't want to' but she decided to go for it. Needless to say, she coughed her lungs up.

With the drugs out of the way, at least for now, they started the film. And so the horror movie marathon began.

Three films in, Luke had fallen asleep, Warren was still watching with intensity, Stella had hid under a blanket and Daniel was sitting there with the blankest, most uninterested look on his face. Brooke had made a habit of hiding behind Aaron whenever something scary seemed like it was coming up and when a jump-scare happened, she'd grab him in places such as the thigh. Aaron knew it was just reflexes but it was incredibly distracting.

By half nine, everyone seemed to have had enough and wanted to go to bed. None of them could lie, they'd had fun. They had all bonded more and Aaron enjoyed doing things with other people. He was grateful Warren had invited him. By the time everyone had left, it was just Aaron and Warren in his dorm

"Hey man, I just wanted to say thanks. I had fun, it was great to spend time with you all"

"No problem dude, It was nice to actually hang out for a change rather than talk all the time" Warren replied. He was ecstatic to know Aaron had fun. "I should throw social gatherings more often"

"Yeah man, it'd be nice to hang out with you all again. Anyway, I should get going, catch you later man"

Aaron walked out with a smile on his face, a smile that lasted until he reached his dorm door. His phone vibrated just before he opened it and it was the message which made his expression change.

' _My room, now'-Victoria_

Aaron thought what could she possibly want but that question answered itself. There was only one thing Victoria Chase would want from Aaron Heartfield. His mind tore in all different directions. He thought about how he wouldn't give her the satisfaction, how he low-key hated her shitty attitude and how big of a bitch she was. Somehow all of this wasn't enough to stop Aaron from walking out of the boys dorm, across the academy grounds and up the drainpipe and through the window at the back of the girl's dorm.

He stood looking at her door; why was he her?! He knew how much he shouldn't be and how much he didn't want to be and yet here he was. Aaron was screaming at himself on the inside, he was mentally face palming at how much of a fool he was.

The decision to come here wasn't as easy as it seemed. Aaron was fighting a mental battle with himself to turn around and fuck this Heathen off for good. Alas, it wasn't enough. He knocked on the door.

"Open" he heard Victoria call from inside. The deafening silence of the hallway made her quiet word loud enough for Aaron to hear.

The door swung open and Aaron walked in, closing it quietly behind him. Victoria was laying on her side covered by a velvet red robe. Aaron was stunned, he couldn't muster any sarcastic words to say. His face bore the expression of someone who was empty, someone who had lost but also with a hint of anger, someone who wouldn't give up. He flicked his hair as he stood there, waiting for Victoria to say the words he couldn't.

"Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a slut. Sure, I've had sex with one or two boys but nowhere near as many as you'd probably think. Wanna know a secret? They all fail when compared to you"

Aaron was shocked by these words, did she really just say that?!

Victoria turned so she was lying on her back and propped herself up with her elbows. He gown opened, exposing her red lacy underwear that matched her robe. Her mouth hung open in a loose smile as she watched Aaron's eyes trace up and down her body. She thought she had him right where she wanted.

Her body was amazing; Aaron couldn't say otherwise, he just regretted the circumstances that allowed him to see it.

Victoria stood up, leaving her robe behind on the bed. She was now face to face with Aaron and stared deeply into his one eye as she bit her lip.

"Here's what's gonna happen" Victoria whispered into Aaron's ear as she pulled his jacket off and discarded it on the floor. "You're gonna fuck me, hard" she said more loudly as she took his shirt off. "You're not gonna tell anyone" she said as she undid his belt buckle, allowing his skinny jeans to fall down. "And you'll do exactly. As. I. Say" Victoria finished as she placed her hand down Aarons underwear.

Aaron was breathing very loudly as he took in what happened, it all seemed to happen so slowly yet, fast at the same time. It was through this that he found his voice.

"There's only one problem" Aaron called in a soft manor.

"Hm, and what's that?" Victoria asked.

"I don't like being told what to do" Aaron exclaimed as he picked Victoria up and threw himself on her bed with her in his arms. Victoria couldn't help but laugh in triumph...

 _ **A/N:- First off, mega sorry about the delay on this chapter, my asshat of a Laptop decided to catch Bum disease and stop working. I've only now managed to get it fixed and tried to pump out the end of this chapter. Expect more incredibly sooner than this one. (Seriously, like a million sorries) I'm still on the bench about sex scenes, if you want NSFW full on descriptive, it shall be done, just like the '-' was fucked off because you all didn't like it.**_

 _ **So, to recap, my laptop was shit, sorry, NSFW sex scenes-yes or no, 'deleted scenes' at the end of the story featuring sex between characters who won't have sex in this story? Please let me know what you'd like to see and I'll make it happen. If there's any questions, PM me, I'd be happy to help. Review, Follow, Favourite and stick with me. Wankhouse awayyyyyyy.**_


	7. Chapter 7-The Night Before

Chapter 7-The Night Before

Victoria's laugh filled the dorm room as Aaron's mouth began kissing and biting away at her neck. That laugh soon became panting which then became slight moaning...

Aaron began kissing down Victoria's front, slowly making his way to where Victoria wanted him to be. As they both caught their breath, Aaron pulled off Victoria's soaking wet underwear and began to lick away.

Victoria was writhing in pleasure as her hands ran through Aaron's thick hair. She was really enjoying him going down on her.

"Do that thing you did with your tong-." She never got to finish as Aaron granted her request causing her to let out a faint scream. Victoria was in a state of pure ecstasy as Aaron's tongue ravaged her, she was having a hard time staying quiet but didn't want their jolt to be cut short by having someone bust in.

Aaron finished licking and slid up to Victoria's face. He began kissing her again, letting her taste herself. Victoria's hands stayed at the back of Aaron's head, almost as if she was pulling him closer and closer. As they continued to kiss, Aaron slid two fingers into her, causing Victoria to let out a soft moan.

Aaron started off slowly, letting Victoria's body react to what he was doing before gradually picking up the pace. Victoria was struggling to keep quiet, she broke off her kiss with Aaron and began to bite down on his left shoulder as she desperately tried to keep herself as silent as possible.

Aaron continued to move his fingers faster and faster, ignoring the pain that was shooting through his left shoulder. Eventually he could feel a gush of liquid come shooting all over his fingers. Having achieved climax, Victoria released her hold on Aaron's shoulder and started catching her breath. The mark didn't break the skin but it was extremely red. Aaron's levels of Adrenaline were so high, however, he could barely feel a thing anymore.

They both lay side by side, catching their breath before Victoria mounted Aaron and looked down at him.

"You never fail to amaze me, let me say thank you" Victoria whispered with a sultry grin before running her hands up Aaron's legs and around his erect member and began moving her hand up and down.

Aaron leant back and looked at the ceiling, letting Victoria repay him. His heart was racing but he couldn't help but want more of her. It was as if Victoria was releasing pheromones that were clouding his mind. For all he knew, she could have been.

Aaron jolted forward as he could feel Victoria's tongue on his shaft, the saliva from her mouth felt nice, causing Aaron to let out low breaths.

"I can never forget how big you are" Victoria whispered as she placed her mouth over his tip and began moving down, then up, then down and back up. It was Aaron's turn to enjoy. Victoria's head went up and down on Aaron as he just stared at the ceiling and continued to breathe slowly.

Finally, the both of them had enough of the foreplay and Aaron grabbed Victoria by her waist and spun her around so he was on top again. They both looked at each other in anticipation as Aaron slid himself into Victoria.

Victoria's hands clung to his back as Aaron fucked her faster and faster. She clawed away at his back as Aaron placed his hands on her breasts.

After getting bored of the position they were in, Aaron flipped Victoria over on her stomach, propped her hips up and fucked her from behind. Victoria buried her face in her pillow as Aaron moved faster and faster.

Aaron picked her up and moved to her wardrobe. Victoria wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders as Aaron fucked her up against the wall. Victoria wanted more and more. This was the best she'd felt in a while and never wanted it to end.

Aaron went back to kissing and biting Victoria's neck. He was gentle enough to not leave any marks but rough enough for Victoria to let out the odd moan of pleasure.

After what seemed like forever, Aaron finally let Victoria go and told her to get on her knees. Victoria opened her mouth and with pleasure and looked up at Aaron as she waited for her final present. Aaron was more than happy to oblige and fired a big load into her mouth. Victoria swallowed with ease as the hot liquid travelled down her throat.

Aaron collapsed on the floor and leant up against the wardrobe as he caught his breathe. He was tired and could think of nothing more than crawling into bed and going to sleep. This night had gone on for far too long. He collected himself and changed back into his clothes before getting out of there as fast as possible.

Victoria just watched from her bed with a warm feeling of success inside...and steamy hot cum.

* * *

 _Thursday morning, yuck_ Max thought as she walked to class. Even though Max loved photography more than anything, she hated going to class just for the sheer fact it was school. Her photography class did have to be her favourite, however. She enjoyed the laughs she had with Aaron and it was nice to see Kate come more and more out of her shell these past few days.

Max sat down across from Aaron in her usual seat only there was something unusual about Aaron. He was sitting with his jacket zipped up and his hood on his head.

"Hey Aaron, you ok?" Max asked as she took her notebook out of her bag.

"Hey Max, yeah I'm fine, just one of those off days, ya know?"

"I can tell" Max said as she gestured to Aaron with a giggle"

Aaron just laughed before pulling his hood down and flicking his hair to the side. Two eyes, a smile and no forehead. That's the Aaron Max was used to seeing.

"Hey, any news on Chloe's party? I've decided to give your Arcadia Bay parties a chance and show you how we do it in Oregon" Aaron joked

"Oh my God, I'm glad you asked. Chloe's had to fast track it to tomorrow night at seven. Looks like you won't have to wait so long to show me how you dance" Max replied but the look on Aaron's face wasn't one of humour, it was one of shock.

"Tomorrow, as in, Friday" Aaron asked in a very worried tone.

"Yeah...there's no problem Aaron, something you wanna talk about?" Max asked.

"No, nothing of the sort, I'll be there" Aaron replied, the worried look was gone completely and in its place was the cool, casual Aaron everyone loved. "What would the latest I'd be able to turn up without looking like a scumbag?" Aaron asked with a slight chuckle.

"Well, this is Chloe we're talking so she'll be happy so long as you just turn up"

The two of them laughed as Mr Jefferson walked into the room, closing the door behind him.

With that, everyone stopped talking and started listening, class had started.

After two and a half hours of School, Max and Aaron left Mr Jefferson's class laughing.

"Oh my god, there's no way that happened" Max laughed as she walked down the stairs.

"Yeah, you should have seen his face, poor bastard was drinking milk for about four hours" Aaron replied as he flicked his hair out of his face.

Towards the end of class, Aaron started telling Max a story about when one of his old friends ate three ghost chillies at the same time. Aaron had a habit of telling Max the random-est of things when he could see she was bored in the middle of class. Max was happy that she was friends with Aaron, he rally added some much needed colour into her life at Blackwell.

Aaron, on the other hand, was just happy to be making people feel happy, it's all he ever really wanted to do. He was glad he knew Max, she was so down to earth and easy to talk to, if not a bit awkward. Aaron couldn't complain though, everyone's a little awkward, he was just happy she wasn't stuck up.

"Any plans for this Thursday evening?" Aaron asked as he turned to face Max.

"Chloe asked me to go to the movies with her to see that new Jake Gyllenhaall film, Nightcrawler"

"I saw the trailer for it, that movie actually looks pretty sick" Aaron replied as he checked the time on his watch.

"You should come, Chloe wouldn't mind"

"Thanks, but I'll have to pass, Warren had me watching too many movies last night. You two don't need me there anyway" Aaron knew how much Chloe liked Max, even if she didn't know it herself. He didn't wanna be an unnecessary obstacle in their way and would rather let them enjoy each other's company.

"You actually went to that?" Max asked.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't" Aaron replied as he let out a cheeky grin, knowing full well it would wind Max up.

"Stop it, Aaron" Max called as she gave him a playful nudge. "I can't help Warren has a crush on me, what am I supposed to do, tell him how to feel?" Max responded.

"No, but I just like annoying you" Aaron said with a laugh.

Max was left speechless as she started to laugh herself.

"You sure you won't come?"

"I'm sure, I've got some stuff to do later anyway so I'd best get on with it. You two go have fun"

And with that, Chloe's rusty old pickup pulled up in the car park. Her presence was made known by the deafening blow of her car horn.

"Ah, the Lady's chariot awaits (!)"

"It's the lowest form of whit, Aaron" Max replied.

The two started to laugh for a bit before waving goodbye to each other and heading their separate ways.

The ride in Chloe's pickup consisted of her singing the entirety of Blink 182's greatest hits and Max sitting next to her in idle silence, giggling at Chloe whenever she'd sing off key on purpose.

The weather was nice and sunny; the autumn light was really complimenting their surroundings as they drove through Arcadia bay. Max was happy to be spending time with Chloe, every time she did, it caused all those years of playing pirate to come rushing back to her. Now, however, they had grown up and couldn't play pirate anymore. They could however go out and do things like watch a movie.

Max was the quiet one, the one who was happy doing whatever as long as she was doing it with Chloe. Chloe had to be the one who caused all the problems. Every friendship group had that one troublemaker, that one person who wasn't happy until they were doing something they knew they shouldn't be. Max would be a fool to think anything less of her best friend.

"Come on Super Max, you need to loosen up a bit" Chloe said with a playfull wink as she turned down the CD.

"I am chill, you're the one who's singing at the top of her lungs instead of concentrating on the road" Max replied.

"You know I could probably drive blindfolded if I wanted to" Chloe said as she took a drag of the lit cigarette that was hanging loosely in her left hand before dropping her arm out the window again.

"I'd rather take my chances with Charles Manson" Max jested. "I'd have a better chance of survival"

"Ouch Caulfield, words can hurt just as much as a knife"

"You know I love you too much to hurt you"

Max's tone was as soft and gentle as always; Chloe had always heard Max say those words, and she had said them back. But lately, she had been feeling something else, especially whenever it consisted of Max and the word love. Chloe was confused. She didn't know how to feel around Max anymore. She felt as if she wanted more from their friendship but she just didn't know what.

As they drove through Arcadia bay, Chloe couldn't help but think about what Aaron had said the other day. _Could he really be right, do I love Max? No, she's my bestfriend._ Chloe thought as she looked over at Max who was staring idly out the window. _My beautiful, smart, funny bestfriend_ Chloe thought as she looked back at the road. Aaron could be right but even if he was, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

The Arcadia bay movie theatre was just like everything in Arcadia bay: old and out of date. It was your typical 80's type venue with the neon sign above the door and the ticket window out the front with a less than happy teenager working behind it. The paint job was your typical red with hints of gold on the support beams and novelty red carpet that led upto the blue door with big porthole style windows.

"Hey Luke, how's it going?" Max asked as she approached the ticket window.

"Oh, hi Max, not bad, just well, y'know, boring" Luke replied as he lifted his chin out of the palms of his hands.

Luke's work uniform consisted of a white shirt, black bowtie and red waistcoat. Max couldn't help but think his trademark baseball cap wasn't part of his work uniform.

"How much do we owe you for two tickets for Nightcrawler?"

"Fifteen" Luke replied as he grabbed the tickets off the reel and slid them under the gap.

"Wow, that's a lot cheaper than I thought it would be" Max replied as she slid fifteen dollars back to Luke.

"Mates rates" Luke said as he shrugged his shoulders with a smile

The inside of the theatre was again, stereotypically old fashioned. There was a concession stand at the far back wall with two corridors leading diagonally away on either side, a male toilet on the right and female on the left. The carpet was blue and the walls were painted red and adorned with movie posters of upcoming movies or ones that are currently on show.

It was mostly dead, apart from three other people, Max and Chloe were the only ones on the inside. Another familiar face was at the concession stand. Brooke looked up at Max and Chloe as they walked over.

"Oh, Hey Max" she said in her blunt tone.

"Hey Brooke, busy night?" Max asked.

"You know, same old"

"Uh, Cam we get two sweet and salty and a large Pepsi, please" Max asked.

"Sure, that'll be 25.50" Brooke replied, showing no facial expression or interest.

Max paid and the two girls collected their snacks and headed to their screening room.

"I noticed no mate's rates from little miss enthusiasm there, what's that all about?" Chloe asked with an interesting grin"

"Nothing, Brooke just likes Warren who likes me so..." Max trailed off as she opened the door of screen five.

"She cannot be serious, that's why she's a bit bitchy?" Chloe gasped.

"Yeah, I know right" Max responded as the two girls sat down.

The screening room was virtually empty apart from roughly twenty other people all spread out amongst the seats. Max and Chloe opted to sit at the back, where Chloe would make idle comments on the movie and Max would laugh even though she knew it was incredibly distracting.

The movie was intriguing to say the least; Max and Chloe both enjoyed it for different reasons but they just enjoyed each other's company most of all.

They sat throughout the film with both their hands inter locked. Max as always, just saw it as something they did because they were comfortable with each other and had been friends for so long. Chloe on the other hand just thought about how much she missed Max when she left for five years. True they kept in contact but it was never the same.

Chloe never wanted to lose Max ever again, she would fight to keep her best friend forever. Max meant so much to her, she gave Chloe a sense of security that no one else did. Max made Chloe feel like a normal person.

Towards the end of the movie, Max was feeling tired and couldn't help but rest her head on Chloe every couple of minutes. Max new if she stayed there, she'd be outers. Chloe just put her left arm around Max's shoulder and kept her right hand interlocked with Max's.

"Y'know Max, for a bony bitch, you sure are cuddly" Chloe whispered as she hugged her best friend tighter.

Max loved Chloe's hugs, they were so warm and made her feel all fuzzy. She was so happy to be with her best friend again, Seattle was ok, but withought Chloe, it was dull. Max was glad to be back home for good and planned to spend as much time with Chloe as she possible could. Max couldn't help about think about Chloe's party that would be coming up tomorrow. She hadn't been to a party for a while and had almost forgot how to party. She knew she could count on Chloe to look after her though.

The movie eventually came to an end and as the lights turned on, Max felt more awake. She crunched her face up in an effort to hide from the lights but realised it was pointless.

"Come on MegaMax, you can crash at my house, I'll drive you back to Blackwell later" Chloe said as she helped her friend to her feet.

It wasn't very late, only just approaching four in the evening. Max had no idea how she was tired but would like a nap, that was for sure. She couldn't remember much about the movie, she was just happy to have spent some time with Chloe.

* * *

Aaron had been running for the last two hours; he had ran from Blackwell, all the way across the coast. His usual attire had been swapped out for a more training type. He had a grey jacket that was zipped up, only the sleeves had been ripped off at the shoulder, grey shorts and a pair of light blue training socks that were rolled down. His black converse were swapped out for a pair of grey low top ones and the jacket hood was up, causing most of him to be a grey colour.

His breath was a low pant as he continued his run, having only his headphones in to keep him going. This was something Aaron does every Thursday; building up his stamina and doing a cardio work out. Aaron was incredibly tired and sweaty but decided to run until the sing he was listening to had ended before he would stop and head back.

Aaron came to a stop just a few metres shy of a bench; he walked to it and sat down to catch his breath. His core was screaming at him and his lungs were next. He knew pushing himself all the time wasn't good but that's just what he needed to do, how he needed to prepare himself. He was the type of person who always gave 110% and training would be no different. He couldn't lie, his body had started to tone fairly well and it was a nice bonus.

Aaron pulled his hood down, exposing his black hair which he shook vigorously before taking his water bottle out of his bag and having a massive gulp. He needed to be in shape for tomorrow, even more so, so he could finish early and get to Chloe's party.

Aaron loved parties, loads of people in one space, the perfect time to socialise and build bridges with people. _Hopefully Kate will be there_ Aaron though as he put his drink back in his bag. _If not, I should bring her, wait, that's stupid, asking a girl to come with you to a party when you don't know what time you'll be there yourself. There's so much she doesn't know...hopefully, I'll be able to tell her...soon. if she sees me, she's gonna ask about...no, I shouldn't worry, I'll think of something._ And with that, Aaron looked at the setting sun, it was getting late, just a two hour run back. Tomorrow would be fun.

 _ **A/N:- ok, I decided to go with the NSFW scenes, I hope it wasn't shit. There will be more so I hope I'll be able to get better in the description of them (Soz) Anyway, people have been asking about an Aaron/Max/Chloe threeway and not to kill people's hopes but there was no original plan for it in this story but never say never *insert winky face but don't cus NO EMOJI* Who knows what might happen, especially with a party coming up and whatever Aaron's training for.**_

 _ **If you think you know one of Aaron's many secrets (what he's training for) PM me, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Follow, Favourite and Review, lemme make this piece of shit not shit. Much love guys, Bastard features awayyyyy**_


	8. Chapter 8-Questions, Bruises and Liquor

Chapter 8-Questions, Bruises and Liquor

Max's head rested against the window of Chloe's pickup truck as she bobbed in and out of consciousness. She was struggling to keep her eyes open despite it being only around four in the evening. The sound of Chloe's soft humming was soothing and didn't do Max any favours, if anything it just made her more tired.

The sun was still up, even though it was masked by some clouds. The warm autumn glow would soon be coming to an end. It was one of those things you never really appreciate until it has gone. It makes you feel, happy and yet melancholy at the same time. Max couldn't argue, autumn was her favourite time of year and this was one of the reasons.

Chloe couldn't help but giggle to herself whenever she would look over at Max. She was all scrunched up on the seat with her arms all tucked up under her head as she struggled to stay awake. Chloe couldn't help but think how cute she looked as she lay there.

The car ride eventually came to an end when Chloe pulled up outside her house. Max was still groggy at this point so Chloe, being the stellar friend that she was, opened the door, helped Max out, closed the door and then proceeded to give her friend a piggyback to the house.

Chloe placed Max down on her bed before going over to her window ledge. As Max lay on her bed, Chloe lit up a cigarette and started to have a smoke. Time seemed to slow down as she inhaled the toxic shit from the stick in between her fingers, the only thing moving was the clouds in the orange sky. As the smoke travelled down Chloe's throat, she just thought of Max and how glad she was to have her best friend back again. If anyone would help her plan a party, it would be Max.

Max was a low-key perfectionist so Chloe knew she'd set this party up so good, it would be hard to top. Then again, not that many people would be coming so it didn't really matter how good it was set up. Chloe had a rough idea of who she wanted to come and she knew that those people wouldn't care so much about décor or shit like that.

As the birds started tweeting, Max started to stir; Chloe took one last drag of her fag before chucking out her open window. She then walked over to the bed and jumped on it, landing next to a now awake Max.

"Hey sleepyhead, nice of you to wake up" Chloe said as she looked at her best friend.

"Mrghm, how long was I out?" Max grunted as she rubbed her eyes.

"Eh, not long, we've only been in my house for like ten minutes so I wouldn't worry if I was you"

Max just took a few shallow breaths as she processed the situation. "You should've just dropped me off at Blackwell, save you giving me a ride there later" Max responded with once she was more aware of the situation.

"You might as well just stay here tonight and skip tomorrow, it's only one Friday lesson"

Max just giggled before responding with "That's not how it works Chloe"

"Come on, you're telling me no one's ever pulled a sickie in all the time you've been there?"

"Well, no but.."

"Ah, I got you Caulfield, there's no backing out now. You're officially ill fir tomorrow" Chloe said, cutting Max off. Max knew there was no point arguing with Chloe when she made her mind up like that.

"Urgh, fine but you gotta lend me some clothes for tomorrow?" Max asked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, no problem; now, what movie do you wanna watch first?"

Max was stunned at the fact Chloe could watch another movie so soon. Max was still ready to go to sleep but the big smile on Chloe's face made it hard for Max to say no.

The two of them didn't realise how happy they were to be having a sleepover again. As the two girls sat there, all cuddled up eating popcorn, they were in a place of absolute bliss. The only thing lighting up the room was Chloe's TV, the only sound was that of the movie they were watching and their laughs or screams the two girls would occasionally make. Max didn't care about sleep anymore, she wanted to do this forever. This was a bond many wished for but few achieved.

* * *

Aaron was tired after his run; the warm shower did him no favours either, if anything, it made him feel more tired. He would have gladly gone to sleep if it wasn't for the constant gnawing thought in the back of his mind. _Come on, just text her, it won't be weird, will it?! No, don't doubt yourself, it'll be fine, just do it_ Aaron thought as he looked at his phone. _Fuck it; Hey Kate, There's this arty I've been invited to tomorrow and I was wondering if you'd like to come? I know that's probably the last thing you wanna hear right now but Max's friend Chloe is throwing it and there's gonna be no assholes there and I'd really like it if you came._

Aaron felt like a right insensitive bell end. This girl was still getting over the shit if the last party she went to and now he's asked her to come to another one. He felt stupid, felt like Kate would turn up at his room and bash his fucking skull in. As he lay there, recounting all the meme's about sending risky texts, his phone made a noise.

 _Hey, um, I guess I could go, If you're gonna be there with Max, I guess I could give it a shot. You sure it'll be safe?_ Kate's text read as Aaron looked at his phone.

 _I can't promise anything, but I'll make sure no one hurts you._ _If you don't wanna go, it's cool, I understand. It would be nice if you came though._

 _I guess I could give it a shot._ Kate's reply made Aaron breathe again; he didn't realise he'd been holding his breath. He was delighted she said yes.

 _OK, great, I'll talk to you about it more tomorrow, see you then._ _And with that, Aaron was able to go to sleep happy_

He didn't know what drew him to Kate, but he just loved spending time with her. Aaron thought she was a great person who had been the victim of something terrible. This was what drew him to her in the first place, she was alone and Aaron hated to see someone like that. He was just doing what any decent person would have done by being nice to her. He gave her the opportunity to hang out with someone as she had become a recluse, shit in away from people as she was still scared by what had happened at the vortex club party not a month ago.

Aaron didn't plan for this to happen, he didn't think he'd grow so attached quickly, he didn't think he'd be in over his head. He liked her and there was nothing he could do about it. He just wanted t spend as much time with her as possible, to see her smile, to make her happy. Aaron had no idea he was falling in love.

Kate was sitting by her desk contently on this sunny Friday morning; she was waiting for Mr Jefferson to turn up and start their lesson. It was just coming upto half eleven when Aaron walked in and sat in his usual seat. He flipped his hair out of his eye and turned around and gave a smile at Kate.

"Hey, how you doing?" He asked as he took his notebook out of his bag.

"Oh, you know, surviving, how are you?" Kate asked in response.

"I'm ok, just wish I was still in bed"

"It's eleven thirty, how can you still be tired?" Kate asked with a slight laugh"

"Kate, one can never have enough sleep" Aaron said with a smile on his face. Kate just sighed through her smile before shaking her head in dismissal.

"You seen Max today?"Kate asked.

"Nah, last time I saw her was yesterday when she went out with Chloe. Speaking of which, you still wanna come tonight?"

Kate looked him dead in those blue eyes of his, he was so kind to her and she loved that about him "Yeah, I'll go but I don't wanna stay too long" she said.

"That's great, I'm not gonna force you to do anything, it's upto you" Aaron said in his charismatic tone "Just know whatever you decide to do, I'll look out for you"

Aaron's words made Kate smile as she looked back at him, she couldn't help but see him as such an amazing guy and wondered why he'd waste his time talking to a girl like her.

Mr Jefferson finally closed the classroom door as everyone turned to face him.

"Ok everyone, today is unusually sunny and hot for the middle of autumn so I want each of you to go outside and spend the next hour taking some shots for your autumn portfolio. Need I remind you that these seasonal portfolios will make up 20 percent of your final grade, that's five percent each so please don't slack!" With Mr Jefferson's announcement, everyone in the class left and headed to the outside.

Aaron walked alongside Kate, slowly and calmly as the talked idly. They ended up sitting on the benches just outside the main entrance, in the cooling shade of the trees alongside them. Aaron took his jacket off due to the heat, revealing his white and black stripy t-shirt that he was wearing underneath. Even though there was still black on it, it added more colour to his apparel.

"So, on the topic of photography, I'm gonna ask the one question you probably don't want me to" Aaron just smiled and looked at the floor before looking back up and flipping his hair out of his eyes. "How does it feel to be the youngest artist ever to have work on display at Greenwood?"

Aaron sighed with a smile before saying: "Yeah, I kinda get that a lot" Aaron said before he composed himself "Well, I gotta be honest, it was a shock more than anything. I mean I've always enjoyed taking photo's, I have for a long time and when you go on holiday, people tend to take a lot of photos. This one night, me and my dad went for a walk just up some of the mountains around the ski lodge and when we got to the top of one of them, I looked out and saw the sky, the lodge and the mountains behind it and just thought it was bloody beautiful. I took my camera and took the picture, just like that" Aaron sounded a lot more shy and reserved than he usually did as he answered the question.

"Wow, so you didn't even mean to apply?" Kate asked as she listened to the story.

"Nope, when we came home, I was uploading a few of them to my computer when my dad walked in and saw it on the screen. He went on about how great it was blagh, blagh, blagh and I eventually caved and sent it to a publisher. Now I just expected to get into a magazine or something but the publisher thought it was better than that and he's the one who set things up with Greenwood. A week later I got the call saying they'd like to put on display at the international museum. The funny thing is it's still there today. Whereas most works are only up for a season, mine stays up as its two attractions in one. 'Aaron Heartfield's Slopes of Salzburg' and 'Aaron Heartfield, youngest artist to have work on display at Greenwood International museum of art' Yeah, my instagram kinda blew up" Aaron said with a laugh as he ended the story.

Kate couldn't help but smile as she stared at the boy in front of her. He was everything and nothing, all in one. He was forthcoming yet reserved, confident yet shy, kind yet could. He was everything she wanted but didn't realise it.

"So, whadda you plan to shoot for your portfolio?" Kate asked as she Aaron met her gaze.

"See, that's a surprise; you'll have to let me take you out again if you wanna know?" Aaron said as he smiled a back at Kate.

"Oh Aaron, I'd love to but I feel bad for taking up all of your time and I know you're busy and you have things to do..."Aaron cut her off by placing his arms on her shoulders and looking at her, taking her voice from her throat as he stared at her.

"I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't the thing I most wanna do" his firm hands on Kate, along with the calmness of his voice made her shudder in a good way. His eyes didn't help either. Kate found herself almost entranced in Aaron's beautiful blue eyes as his fixed gaze started into her, almost as if he was looking into her soul. Kate felt helpless yet safe at the same time.

"Yo-you really mean that" Kate replied. She could feel her cheeks reddening under Aaron's gaze.

"I like spending time with you Kate, why do you think I asked you to come tonight?! You're a great person who had something terrible done to her and it's not fair for you to suffer alone through this. I'm here for you"

Kate was left speechless, this was probably the happiest she'd felt this month and her innocent little face was radiating with that happiness. Without thinking she let herself fall into Aaron and started to hug him. Aaron was a bit shocked but retuned the hug in full, pulling Kate in a comforting embrace.

Time seemed to freeze around them as they hugged, there was no other place they would rather be, it was perfect. Kate felt safe with Aaron's arms around her, as if nothing would be able to hurt her again.

The time finally came for the two to stop hugging and when they did, the happiness was noticeable on both of their faces.

"Ok, you have a deal. We'll go out again but the you gotta promise to tell me what you plan to do for your portfolio" Kate said as she hit behind her hand that was now covering her mouth out of shyness.

"Only if you come tonight?" Aaron replied as he smiled back at her.

"Ok fine, you win" Kate admitted in defeat.

The two had enjoyed their time together, then again, they always seemed to enjoy each other's company. They were two young kids who were too naive to realise they were attracted to each other. For two kids with near-perfect G.P.A's, they were both incredibly dense on this matter. The rest of the lesson went by with Aaron and Kate being happier than they had been at the start and things were only gonna go up.

* * *

"Ok mom, I know you're worried but Max'll be here to take care of me" Chloe said as she handed a suitcase to her mother who was standing outside the house as David loaded the car. "I promise we won't burn the house down or anything like that"

"Chloe, please be careful. This is the first time me and David are gonna be leaving you like this, give us a reason to trust you like this more often" Joyce pleaded as she hugged Chloe goodbye. "Max, make sure she doesn't do anything illegal for me"

"You got it Joyce, I'll look out for her" Max replied from her position next to Chloe.

Joyce and David wanted to take the weekend off and have a vacation for just the two of them. Chloe being the wild canon she was, was the reason they never took a vacation due to how worried they were about what Chloe would do. Now that Max was back, they figured she would be a good influence on Chloe and keep her out of trouble while they were gone.

Joyce knew deep down Chloe would do something bad, she just hoped Max would be able to minimize the damage.

The slight breeze that the wind offered caused any fallen leaves on the sidewalk to float away as David and Joyce pulled out of the driveway. It was nearing mid day and the sun was shining right in Chloe's neighbourhood, it was a great day to have a party.

As the car drove away, Max leaned into Chloe and said "She has no idea you're having this party, does she?"

"Not a fucking clue" Chloe responded through her smiling mouth. "Come on, Super-Max, we have party shit to set up"

Max giggled at the thought of Chloe doing actual work as the two girls disappeared into Chloe's house.

Chloe was vigorously pulling all of the things for the party out from under her bed and handing them to Max. "Take these and set up beer pong on the dining table. Make sure you put this table cloth on, it's plastic, therefore waterproof, therefore alcohol proof. No more alcohol stains in this house" Max couldn't help but laugh and recall the memory of when they spilled the wine on the carpet.

Max always loved being reminded of her childhood days with Chloe, they made her feel all warm and fuzzy again. As Max made her way downstairs, she made a mental note to spot the wine stain which was still on the floor, nearly ten years later.

As Max set up the beer pong, Chloe had turned her stereo up full blast. It was so loud that Max felt as if she was actually shaking. The house might as well have started dancing, the vibrations were that bad.

Max loved seeing Chloe be so carefree, it made her smile every time. Max was really looking forward to a party hosted by Chloe but felt bad for having it behind Joyce's back. Max made up for it by telling herself she was responsible for the house and any mess that occurred, she'd have to clean up. _Guess I might as well play mum for Chloe tonight, it should keep her out of trouble...I hope._ Max thought as she laid the cups out in triangle formations at each ends of the table.

The music was still blaring as Chloe came down the stairs holding something in her hands. She walked upto Max, allowing her to see what said box was.

"I was thinking I set this bad boy up outside and put shot glasses on the spots" Chloe said, sounding as mischievous as ever.

"Drunk twister, that doesn't sound dangerous at all" Max replied, sounding as condescending as ever.

This cycle was one that the two girls were both used to: Chloe would suggest something fucking stupid, Max would object and Chloe would do it anyway. Twister wasn't gonna be any different.

Max just sighed and carried on setting things up. Chloe was extremely aggravating almost all the time and yet, Max wouldn't change her.

They had just started and Max could tell this party was gonna be too much for her to handle. As if Max needed more proof of Chloe's foolishness, the blue-haired girl decided to pull out an inflatable pool from the garage. Needless to say, Max's head found itself in the palms of her hands.

"Chloe, why the hell are you gonna bother putting a pool up?" Max asked "It's not like people will actually wanna use it and it's more likely to cause more trouble than it's worth" Max new arguing with Chloe was pointless but as the birds tweeted in the tree's and the wind blew through the open sliding door, Chloe just looked up, grinned and carried on unpacking the pool from its box.

"Come on, buzzkill, it's like a hundred degrees out here, people will wanna cool off" Chloe protested.

Max just sighed as she finished with the beer pong setup and walked over to Chloe who was not attaching the garden hose to a tap outlet. "It's not like the sun will be up much in the evening anyway, I just don't see why you have to make so many problems" Max couldn't help but feel some sort of problem was inevitable with that pool being out and she knew she'd have to be the one to clean it up.

"Hey Max, come 'ere" Chloe called from her back yard Max reluctantly agreed. Not able to see Chloe due to the blind spot of the garden, Max stepped through the door and turned to her right, where Chloe's voice had come from.

Max immediately regretted her decision as she saw Chloe standing there, hose in her right hand and the tap handle in her other. Before Max could say anything, Chloe had turned the hose on and blasted her best friend with cold water. The outcome would have been a lot worse for Max if Chloe hadn't placed her thumb in front of the nozzle and created a fan effect with the water. Sure, Chloe soaked herself but it seeing Max's face was worth it.

Max stood in front of Chloe; drenched and annoyed. She thought nothing would be able to wind her up more...but Chloe was a master at pushing Max's buttons.

"I thought you'd need to cool off" The pun rang in Max's ears and if it had come from anyone else, she would have kicked off.

The shit eating grin on Chloe's face and the look of disgust, yet very subtle amusement on Max's made the moment between the two complete. The only thing breaking the silence was Chloe's giggling as she dropped the hose into the pool to let it fill up.

Finally, Max managed to find her voice: "Are you fucking nuts, Chloe?! I can't believe you just did that, oh my God!" Max's tone conveyed her unhappiness. "What the hell am I gonna wear for the rest of the day Chloe? Urgh"

Chloe just walked over to her best friend and hugged her, forcing their wet clothes on each other. Max was still not amused but Chloe couldn't stop smiling.

"Relax grumpy, I've got some clothes you'll be able to borrow so quit your worrying" Chloe said in a chilled tone, trying to calm Max's mood. "You need to remember how to have fun again, Max. Come on, let's go change"

Max could never stay angry at Chloe, even as the two walked up to Chloe's bathroom, Max found herself hugging her taller best friends arm. Chloe turned the light on and closed the door behind them before taking off her beanie and throwing it in the wash basket that resided by the door.

Both girls took off their wet clothes, stripping down to their underwear. Max passed her wet clothes to Chloe who placed them in the wash basket along with her own. It was when Chloe had her back turned that Max saw it.

"Gee Chloe, is that what I think it is?" Max asked as she looked at the tattoo etched into the left side of Chloe, by her ribs.

"Ugh, no, there's nothing there" Chloe said nervously as she placed her right hand around her front in an effort to cover it.

Chloe's efforts were in vain however as Max stepped forward and removed her hand. There clear as day was the words 'Max and Chloe' in a small heart on the lower, side part of Chloe's back. Max was left speechless as she stared at it while Chloe just buried her face in her hands in shame as she could feel Max's eyes burning a hole through her.

"Chloe, when did you get this?" Max asked as she studied the ink on her best friend.

"I...I had it when you moved back. After finally being with you again, I realised how much I missed you, how much you mean to me Max. I feel about you the way I've never felt about anyone and I don't wanna lose you again" Chloe confessed as she turned around to face Max. Her eyes glistened in the light as Max stared back at her.

"You don't have to worry about that Chloe, I'm never leaving you again, I promise" Max replied as she hugged Chloe. You mean so much to me and I don't know what I'd do withought you by my side"

Max's words made Chloe smile and hug her friend again. Max made Chloe feel so much better and Chloe wished she could hold Max like this all the time but always thinks back to what Aaron said about Chloe's feelings for Max. The more Chloe thought about it, the more she agreed with him and it killed her. Even though the moment between the two was touching and wonderful, Chloe couldn't help but stare at Max's body as she stood there in her underwear.

Max's innocent, doe like appearance drove Chloe crazy. She couldn't help but see Max as a meek innocent animal that needed Chloe to keep her safe. Chloe knew full well Max could handle herself but just wanted to make sure nothing happened to her. Even know as they were hugging, Chloe wanted to pick Max up and cary her off to safety.

"You ok with hugging in our underwear, sista?" Chloe asked, breaking the silence.

"Chloe, I'm so comfortable around you, I'd hug you naked" Max replied, pulling apart from Chloe.

"I might have to take you up on that" Chloe said, only half joking unbeknown to Max's blissful ignorance.

Max walked out of the bathroom and into Chloe's room before calling "Come and dress me peasant, I can't keep walking around your house in my underwear"

 _I wish you would._ Chloe thought to herself with a grin as she bit her lip and left the bathroom, turning the light off as she closed the door.

The two girls still had a lot to do before the party was ready; Chloe had invited all of the people she considered her friends. There wasn't that many but at least no preppy assholes were invited. Everything should be nice and chill. Well, should be...

* * *

Aaron's head was pounding, his vision blurred, ears ringing with the sounds of distorted voices as he pulled himself up off of the cold, unforgiving concrete floor that he was so used to now. How long had it been, ten minutes, fifteen? If he finished it now, he'd be at Chloe's before eight.

Aaron breathed as he stood up, cocking his right hand as he brought himself upright. In less than a second he'd brought it back and fired. It was over.

* * *

The party was in full swing and had been since just before seven. There was a large number of people there but not too many. The number was around 20-25 and all of whom Chloe knew well enough to invite. There were familiar faces such as Justin, Trevor and the other Skaters but there were also people Kate had never seen before.

Their style seemed somewhat alternative, ranging from tank tops to flannel shirts-ripped skinny jeans to stripy skirts with knee high socks-Nike's to combat boots. It was clear that they were Chloe's friends.

Idle music played from Chloe's stereo which had been brought downstairs and plugged in next to the TV. The music ranged from grungy, alt rock to Deathcore-depending on who had their phone plugged in. The music was loud enough to fill the downstairs but not interfere with people's conversations.

Everyone was getting along with each other and respecting people's boundaries but at the same time, everyone was having fun.

Kate found herself standing awkwardly by Chloe's staircase as the party happened around her. Not big on drinking, there wasn't much she was able to find comfort in seeing as Max was nowhere to be found and Aaron was a no-show.

Kate couldn't help but feel vulnerable in the environment she was in. Not a month ago she was drugged and made a fool out if by the Vortex club so the sweat starting to build up on her forehead was justified. Her innocent eyes tried everything they could to avoid looking at anyone who was in Chloe's front room. As Kate's eyes darted from side to side, she eventually saw Max walk in from the back garden and immediately walked over to her.

"Everything alright, Kate?" Max asked as she took a swig of her drink from a stereotypical red cup.

"Oh, hey Max, I just don't feel all to good right now" Kate replied as she buried her head in her shoulders as an effort to hide from everyone around her. "would you mind staying here with me for a bit?" Kate asked, her voice so quiet it was almost a whisper.

"Sure Kate, no problem, you want me to get you anything, a drink maybe?" Max asked before giving Kate a reassuring hug.

"I'm ok, thank you; so how's your night going"

"Eh, I can't complain, I'm having fun. Justin just downed ten shots of vodka before drinking some pool water. Usually I'd find that sorta thing gross but for some reason, I couldn't stop laughing" Max said as she covered her mouth with her hand in an effort to control her giggle as she recalled what just happened not ten minutes ago.

Max was obviously, slightly intoxicated. She was by no means drunk but she was noticeably different and all signs pointed to alcohol as being the culprit. Max was a lightweight due to how little she drank. It wasn't her fault and she had no idea two drinks would be enough to infect her with what everyone other than Kate was feeling.

"So, any sign of Aaron?" Max asked Kate after finishing her second cup.

"Nothing since before seven. I'm worried something might have happened to him Max" Kate responded, the sound of genuine worry in her innocent voice.

"You shouldn't worry so much, Kate; if anyone can take care of themselves, it's Aaron" Max said, sounding less reassuring than she thought she did. "Come on, Kate, just relax, everything will be fine"

Kate looked at Max and decided she was right, she was worrying quite a lot and she realised she should do her best to calm down...at least a little. Nodding in agreement, Kate followed Max over to the couch and sat down. Max leant over Kate to the laptop that had been plugged into the speakers and put on a song that was a lot more quieter, or one that Kate would prefer.

"There, this should chill you out" Max said as 'Soundcheck' by Catfish and the Bottlemen started playing from the speakers. Max was grateful that someone had plugged a laptop in to the speakers as it saved everyone plugging their phones into the speaker every time they wanted to play a different song.

"It's not exactly my cup of tea but thanks Max, I do appreciate it" Kate said as she let out a meek smile.

Not soon after, Chloe came in from the back yard. She was slightly wet and hadn't stopped laughing. She stood in front of Max and Kate who just watched her laugh. Chloe finally composed herself before saying:  
"Oh my God you guys, Justin just jumped off my roof and into the pool" Chloe couldn't help but laugh as she spoke. "He practically soaked everyone who was watching; Justin is off the chain tonight" Chloe said before continuing her laughter. It proved infectious as Max started a slight giggle of her own. "Anyway, what's going on with you guys, you seem glum, Kate?" Chloe asked.

"Oh she's just worried about Aaron, he hasn't turned up yet and is worried he's in trouble" Max said in place of Kate who was just looking at the floor in her timid manor.

"What are you talking about, he's right there" Chloe said as she pointed behind the two girls, in the direction of the front door.

Max and Kate immediately turned around to see what Chloe was pointing at and low and behold, Aaron was walking in their direction. His face held that charismatic smile and his hair was once again covering his right eye.

"Ok, everything's dandy now. Hey Max, come with me, I'll need your help with drying off" Max and Chloe disappeared upstairs while Kate walked over to meet Aaron.

"Hey you; sorry for leaving you in the lion's den for so long" Aaron said as he placed his hands into his pockets. His clothes were different, well his shirt was at least. He had a black and white striped shirt on under his jacket this time, but that wasn't the only thing Kate noticed was different about him.

Aaron had a cut on the right side of his bottom lip, the left side of his face seemed red and there was a small cut on his chin.

"Oh my gosh, Aaron are you ok?" Kate asked as she turned his head to the side, taking a closer look at his injuries.

"Huh, oh that?" Aaron replied, playing dumb. "I slipped off the curb on my way here, landed on my face. Hope I'm still pretty (!)" Aaron said sarcastically. He'd managed to throw Kate off, at least for now.

"It looks really sore, let me help"

"I'm fine Kate, really; you came to this party to have fun, not look after me" Aaron felt a warm feeling inside, it was nice to know Kate cared about him enough to focus all her attention on fixing him up. Aaron was smiling on the inside as well as the outside.

"Trust me, fixing you up will be the most fun I've had all evening" Kate replied before grabbing Aaron's arm and leading him over to the kitchen sink. They passed one guy cuddling a bottle to himself in the corner, a guy and a girl making out up against the counter and one dude even pissing out the side window...and it wasn't even nine yet.

"Hold still" Kate asked as she finished wetting the dish cloth and dabbing gently at the side of Aaron's head.

Aaron winced a few times as Kate started to dab the cut on his chin; he tried his best to seem ok but he was hurting on the inside more than the outside showed. Nevertheless, he kept his composure and let Kate look after him.

After Kate finished with Aaron's chin, he jumped down off of the kitchen counter and walked past Kate before turning to face her.

"Hey, I really appreciate what you just did, it's been a long time since anyone's shown care for me like that"

"You don't need to thank me, silly; you've been so kind to me, it was the least I could do" Kate replied, even going as far as letting out a smile.

"Did I tell you that you should smile more? You look amazing"

Aaron's words made Kate feel really happy; her smile grew in size and her eyes shone bright. Aaron was always so kind to her.

The two walked outside and found a two chairs set up by a patio table. Aaron turned them upright and he and Kate sat down. The sky was dark but the light from the house and all around the garden made things easy enough to see.

Aaron found an unopened bottle of Budweiser and claimed it for himself. Kate again declined the offer of a drink, opting to go with some juice from the fridge. The two enjoyed the cool weather of the outside, especially Kate who found it a welcome change from the humidity of the house and its atmosphere.

"I came to the party, now you gotta tell me about your portfolio" Kate asked as Aaron took a swig of his drink. Kate felt so comfortable around Aaron, she'd spoken more freely to him in the twenty minutes he was there than she had to anyone for the past two hours.

"Gee, you got me there; fine, I guess I'll tell you but I have to say, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out already"

Kate just looked at Aaron in confusion.

"You, Kate; I was gonna take pictures of you" Coming from anyone else, that would have sounded creepy but Aaron made it sound so privileged, so prestige and so sweet. Kate couldn't help but stare at Aaron and smile.

Aaron stood up and looked at Kate before saying:

"Kate, I think you're amazing and when I've said this before, I meant it. I think you're kind, thoughtful and loving. No other person or object or person could compare to your beauty so, with your permission, I'd like to use you as the model for my portfolio"

Aaron's words meant nothing to anyone else in the party, they were meant for Kate. His Charismatic vibe, his electrifying persona made him seem on a higher level that Kate. She couldn't help but not feel good enough for someone of his stature and yet here he was, wanting to spend copious amounts of time with her. Kate saw herself as a nobody, a nothing who would do the world a favour if she died but Aaron saw so much more than that.

Standing up to meet Aaron, Kate just looked at him with her mouth slightly hung open.

"You...you really mean that" she asked, still so timid.

"Yes Kate, a thousand times yes" Aaron replied as he flicked his hair out of his eye.

Kate couldn't help but hug Aaron, as she wrapped her arms around him, she could feel his arms going around her and pulling her close. She felt safe, secure, as if the world would never be able to hurt her like it had again. Aaron's warm body made her not want to let go, ever. Kate wanted to stay like this for as long as possible.

The moment obviously had to come to an end and when it did, they both found themselves smiling. Kate found herself having more and more of these moments around Aaron...not that she was complaining.

As she stared at Aaron, she noticed his cut lip again. Kate placed her left hand on the right side of his face as she pulled herself closer to look at it.

"You ran away before I could clean this, you should lemme take a look at it"

"Don't worry about it, it's not big enough to warrent a damp cloth, there's probably a way easier solution" Aaron replied as he leaned into Kate.

The two were inches away from each other; the party seemed to stop and the world stood still around them as they inched closer and closer. Their eyes closed and before the sparks could fly, the two of them pulled away from each other.

The moment was awkward yet sweet; the two teenagers desperately tried to avoid each other's gaze before finally looking back at each other. They both saw the same thing in the other's eyes. A look that said 'Not yet, but I's like to, soon'. Aaron did his trademark smile and Kate just giggled back at him before going into him for another hug. Tonight hadn't been so bad after all.

* * *

Meanwhile, Max had helped a stumbling Chloe upto her room. Both girls giggled more and more with every step they climbed. By the time they reached Chloe's room, they were both out of breath from all the laughing.

"Chloe, you need to calm down, you know that" Max said as Chloe fell onto her bed.

"Relax, Max-Attack; now do something useful and help me get out of these wet clothes, I'm starting to feel all icky" Again, the two girl's giggles as Max helped Chloe take her shirt and jeans off. As max was pulling at Chloe's jeans, she lost her grip and spilled her drink all over herself. Chloe started to point and laugh at a now equally wet Max who was sitting on the floor giggling to herself.

"Ok girl, your turn to strip, come on" Chloe said, still in a fit of laughter. Max happily agreed and just like Chloe, she ended up in her underwear alongside her best friend.

"Hey Chloe, this is twice we've both been in the same room, nearly naked today" Max said as she stood up and hugged Chloe.

"How much have you had, girlfriend?" Chloe asked as she spun Max around.

"Only like three cups, but I don't drink so pthhhhhh" Max said as she blew bubbles with her tongue. Chloe couldn't help but giggle as she fell on the bed and on top of Max.

"I'm so glad you're back Max, I missed you when you were in Seattle" Chloe whispered as she rested her head on Max's chest. "My beautiful best friend is back"

"Chloe, shhh, I'm not beautiful" Max replied as she started to play with Chloe's hair.

"Maxine Caulfield, don't be stupid, you're the most beautiful girl I know"

"I'm not silly, stop talking nonsense"

"Max, you're the one talking nonsense now stop talking before I shut you up" Chloe said as she propped herself up and looked down at Max.

"Go on then, if you think I'm beautiful, shut me up with a kiss" Max called as she looked up at Chloe.

Without hesitating, Chloe planted her lips firmly on Max's and unleashed all of her built up lust that she had hidden so long. She didn't realise how much she wanted this and Chloe would never have found the courage to take this step if she was sober.

The surprise came when she found out Max was kissing her back. It was unusually but Chloe was too drunk and happy to care so Chloe continued to kiss Max like she wouldn't have another chance...for all she knew, she wouldn't.

The night went on and everyone who attended Chloe's party had a good time...apart from that one Goth chick who cries about everything who spent her night throwing up in Chloe's toilet and crying about how her boyfriends left her for another dude. But on the whole, it was a pretty good night. Whether tomorrow will hold repercussions about what happened was a mystery and they'd all have to wait and see...or pray.

 _ **A/N:- I know I'm useless and I'm sorry. I aimed for this chapter to be out way sooner but my computer decided that saving documents isn't allowed, therefore I couldn't save the new chapter to upload it. I hope the size of it makes up for the wait. (I know, I suck ass)**_

 _ **Please Follow/Fave and Review, the more feedback I get, the faster I'll be able to pump these chapters out. Again, any questions, ask me, I'd love to help! Until next time, Annoying Cunthouse awayyyyyyyyyyyy.**_


	9. Chapter 9-The Wolf Stalks His Prey

Chapter 9: The Wolf stalks his prey.

 _ **A/N:- Just a quick heads up saying that the story will never die out, I will finish it. I have so much fun writing it and enjoy interacting with you guys. I have another LiS fic in my head but am on the fence on whether or not to post it as I don't want it to distract from this one.**_

 _ **Aaron as an OC is someone who I enjoy writing and you guys seem to enjoy him as a character. I'll most likely include him in future LiS stories. What do you think, would that be something you guys would like to see? Lemme know and I can make it happen.**_

 _ **The subtle sub plot that the story summary hinted to kicks off here and will start small but will slowly become very prominent, I hope you guys get into it.**_

The mid day sun seeped into Aaron's room courtesy of how shitly he closed his curtains the night before. The light was irritating to say the least, causing Aaron's eyes to open prematurely than he had intended.

He sat up groggily, rubbing his eyes in an effort to wake himself up. Aaron groaned as he stood up and stretched his body out, loosening all of his stiff joints. Aaron wasn't hung over, he just hated waking up...a lot.

It took him a few seconds to realise where he was; he had woken up in his dorm room, despite not remembering falling asleep there. Aaron tried to recall what happened when he left Chloe's the previous night.

Some weird kids, some quiet kids, some sound kids and a lot of noise and booze, that about summed it up. No matter what happened, it was a pretty cool night and waking up on a Saturday was a great bonus. _Do I actually do something today_ , _or just bum about being the slob that I am?_ Aaron asked himself as he ruffled his hair with his right hand.

Deciding going outside and socialising would be the best option, Aaron headed to the bathroom to wash. Despite not having a hangover, drinking made him feel dirty and not all there. Hot soapy water was Aaron's gateway to sanity; it had been a staple of helping him get through tough, confusing times in the past only this time he's happy to be washing grease and sleep off of his face instead of blood.

Aaron was a man of many secrets, he had almost as many as Blackwell itself. Things he wished he could talk about, things he wanted to confide in someone. Even though he was surrounded by friends, he felt so alone, so distant-like he wasn't even there.

A tear ran down Aaron's cheek as he looked at himself in the mirror, _Life isn't fair_ he thought as he brushed it away with his towel. Sometimes shit was too much for him and he needed to vent but he had no one to vent to.

Aaron strode back to his room with his head hug low, for the first time in a while. He remembered how piled up he was, drowning in shit a seventeen year old shouldn't be drowning in and yet here he was, this confident, fearless specimen of a human and all he wanted right now was a cuddle and someone to tell him everything was ok.

Sadly, that wasn't gonna happen, at least not now. Aaron decided to push the thoughts from his mind like he had done so many times before and go outside in the fresh air. Putting on his black skinny jeans and converse, Aaron struggled to find a belt to hold his jeans onto his skinny frame. Franticly he looked around his room, flipping his blanket and pillow up into the air then diving under his bed.

As Aaron clawed under his bed, there was a knock on his door.

"Yo Stripy, you alive" Chloe called from the other side.

"Yeah, sadly I'm still here" Aaron replied as he buckled up a belt he found. Taking Aaron's voice as a sign, Chloe walked in on him walking halfway to his wardrobe to find a shirt. The two just stared at each other, on the edge of laughing.

"Fuck. What bear did you fight with?" Chloe questioned as she gestured to the marks that were visible on Aaron's torso.

"You should see the bear" he replied with before offering a playful wink before walking passed Chloe and into his wardrobe.

"You're a skinny fucker mind, Aaron"

"Gee, haven't heard that one before" Aaron called from behind Chloe as he looked for a shirt to wear. Aaron settled on a black Parkway Drive one with the words Park, Way, Drive in a line of three in white, almost scruffy righting scrawled across the front.

Chloe sat down on Aaron's bed and threw her chewing gum into his bin and lying on her back with her feet in the air.

"By all means, get comfy, you want me to make you food as well, maybe some tea? (!)" Aaron joked, causing Chloe to let out a giggle. "What do I owe the pleasure?" He asked, sounding more serious.

"Me and Max are going out for ice cream, she's a bit...thing after last night so I was gonna treat her" Chloe said, neglecting to tell Aaron about the kiss the two shared the previous night.

Aaron sat at his desk before saying "Sounds fair, but why are you telling me?"

"It was an invite, doofus. Unless you're to cool for ice cream"

"Nobody is too cool for ice cream" Aaron replied as he shot Chloe a death glare. She knew he was joking and the two started laughing.

Aaron and Chloe seemed to get on well, almost as well as her and Max got on. Chloe saw Aaron as a kindred spirit of sorts. That and she thought he was pretty hot...she had a thing for jaw-lines. Aaron was just nice to everyone and if you were nice back, he considered you a friend.

"You feel hungover at all?" Chloe asked as she sat up and let her legs hang over the edge of Aaron's bed.

"Nah, I didn't have that much, I spoke to Kate for most of the night. I promised to look out for her cus parties aren't exactly her thing. It was a great night though, thanks for inviting me" Aaron replied as he looked at his phone.

"I'm gonna go meet Max, I'll drop you a text when were ready to leave" Chloe said as she got up from the bed and walked towards the door. "We gotta sort some shit out so I'm gonna go ahead and get it out of the way now"

Aaron was well aware of what shit Chloe was on about; opting to feign ignorance, he just kept looking at his phone and offered a bland "Ok" in response to Chloe.

Chloe made her way out of Aaron's room, leaving him inside. As soon as the door was shut, Aaron started smiling to himself, he knew Chloe had made some kind of move on Max. He was happy for her, Aaron knew that Chloe liked Max and was glad to see it going somewhere. He found it cute and wished they'd have hooked up sooner.

As the birds tweeted outside, Aaron realised that one of his curtains was still pulled across. Grunting as he sat up, Aaron walked over to his window and pulled his curtain back. Looking out at the grounds below, Aaron saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was the type of thing that you wish you didn't see, the type of thing that would keep you up at night, the type of thing that has you going 'what?' every time you think about it.

There was a man, not much older than Aaron, leaning against a wall. He had dark hair that was slicked back, a trimmed beard that ran from his sideburns around his chin and over his mouth. He had some sort of mark that Aaron guessed was a tattoo on the right side of his neck. He wore a red vested jacked, a pair of dark green cargo pants, some various things on his wrists and a pair of black boots.

As soon as Aaron appeared in the window, the figure had discarded the cigarette he was smoking and disappeared around the corner of the wall he was leaning on. Aaron barely had time to process him; the only thing he gathered was he was male, a vague idea of what he was wearing and the feeling he was being watched. This guy defiantly was not a student, Aaron would have recognised him. Aaron only wanted to know two things, who this guy was and what he wanted from him.

Aaron decided not to dwell on the strange event but he'd come back to it later. There were a few questions he wanted answers to. _Probably one of Victoria's lackeys checking up on me._ Aaron thought as he took his jacket from the hook on the back of the door and made his way out of his dorm room.

As Aaron left the building, he flicked his hair to the side and checked his watch; half past twelve. _Not that late_ he thought as he walked onto the main concourse.

To add to the shit that had already happened today, Aaron saw Victoria sitting under a tree with her entourage and other recognisable members of the Vortex club. Aaron being the champion he was, walked upto them and interrupted their conversation.

"I need to talk to you" he said, cutting Hayden off from what he was talking about. If it was anyone else, there would be a public outcry. No one interrupts someone of their social standing...but Aaron wasn't just anyone.

Aaron moved to the side after saying his piece and waited for Victoria who promptly got up and made her way over to where he was standing.

"Missed me did you?" She said with a wink and a bite of her lip.

"Actually it's the opposite; we're done with whatever the shit it was we did" Aaron said in an unusually stressed tone. It was chilled out but a bit forceful.

"Uh, what do you mean 'we're done'? " Victoria asked as she looked at him in confusion.

"Done, finished, not happening. You may be used to people bowing to your every whim but what happened between us, that was a one-two off and I'm telling you, it's not happening again"

Victoria was hurt by what Aaron had said, they weren't anything at all, they just had sex twice. Victoria wasn't used to this, being told no and it was very confusing. She tried to play it down but knew she'd fail.

"You'll be the one who's sorry Aaron Heartfield, not me. Don't think I'll take you back when you come crawling back to me, no sir that is not happening"

Aaron honestly couldn't care less, he just wanted to pie Victoria off for good. He never wanted...whatever he got and couldn't be asked for all the hassle of her being a loose end. He'd happily be friends with her but that was it, he wouldn't succumb to her desires.

"Good thing I don't plan too, now tell your flunky to stop following me" Aaron said as he turned his back on her and started walking away but what he heard chilled him to the core.

"What the fuck are you on about, I don't have anyone following you" Victoria called, sounding genuinely confused, she had no idea what Aaron meant. She didn't send him.

Moving past everything, Aaron juts made his way to his favourite spot, the benches under the trees. He'd wait here to hear from Chloe and Max and find out what he was gonna do. Aaron thought about inviting Kate but wanted to leave room between them for now. He didn't wanna rush into anything she might not be ready for and something he defiantly wasn't ready for either.

Aaron liked Kate, he did but he wasn't ready to commit to something this early. He really wished he could but he saw things practically and he knew this wasn't a practical decision. Some people would call him cold for thinking like that but he was a smart kid, he knew what he was doing. Despite being seventeen, he was a master at the game of life. Sure he had a lot to learn and made mistakes but he had a better grasp of the situation than most people.

Aaron would play the waiting game, not just for Max and Chloe, but for life itself.

* * *

Chloe entered Max's room and found her friend sitting at her desk. Her head was in the computer and she had headphones on, making her oblivious to Chloe's entrance. Chloe decided to lie on Max's bed and throw her pillow at her.

Max was startled and turned around to find Chloe laughing hysterically on her bed. Max took her headphones off and stood up.

"What the fuck Chloe, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Key word being nearly" Chloe replied, still laughing.

"Why are you here?" Max asked as she sat down at the foot of her bed. She sounded drained and pissed off.

"Gee, I expected a different reaction, it's not like your best friend walked in or anything"

"Chloe, I, we need to talk about last night" Max said as she placed her hand upto her forehead. Chloe was afraid of what would come next. "Me and you, we...you know what we did and I just can't stop thinking about it"

"Was I that good that you want some more" Chloe joked.

"No Chloe, this is fucking serious!" Chloe's smile disappeared as Max stood up. She clearly meant business. "You're my best friend, I've known you nearly all my life and now we've, what even...I can't...I physically can't find the words, none will leave my mouth"

Chloe just sat there and looked up at Max, she was speechless too. The tension was so thick, it could have been cut. Max was in a totally different mindset, one that Chloe had never seen before. Chloe was confused as much as Max, if not more. Something was going on but she had no idea what.

"Max, what's wrong?" Chloe asked, she was concerned as to what Max was getting at.

"Don't you get it Chloe, we need time apart. My brain is fried and I just have no idea what to think. I can barely function with my mind so focused on...whatever happened, us. I need some time so myself, time away from all of this...away from you"

Max's words cut deep, they hurt Chloe. The one thing she hated was being abandoned. First by her dad, then Max, then Rachel and now Max again for the second time. Chloe was on the verge of tears but found the strength to talk.

"Max you don't mean that, tell me you don't mean that?"

"You should leave Chloe, I'll be in touch, I don't know, soon"

Chloe knew that was her sign to leave; getting up, she walked past Max, nudging her as she past and headed out of the building.

Max didn't want to do this to Chloe, she felt heartbroken but there was just too much she needed to think about and she had to manage school along with it. Max wished she could keep Chloe as close as the clothes on her back but she had so many questions she had to answer, so many things she had to think about and knew Chloe would be a distraction.

Max was stuck between a rock and a hard place; she had to do what she thought was the best option for both her and Chloe. She hoped she knew what she was doing.

* * *

By the time Chloe had left the building, her sadness had turned to anger. She had been abandoned again, by Max again. As Chloe strode back to the parking lot, she heard Aaron call from the benches.

"Yo blue, what's the skinny?" Chloe just walked past him and gestured him to follow, which Aaron did. "You ok Chloe, where's Max?"

"Not coming" Chloe replied coldly, not looking at Aaron as she continued walking. She pitied anyone who'd get in her way. "Get in" She said when they reached her truck.

Chloe began to drive, her face like thunder had Aaron confused. He thought things would have been positive between the two, not at this level of aggression.

Chloe began to drive through Arcadia bay without saying a word. Aaron respected her decision and listened to music as they drove to wherever they were heading. Clearly something had happened in Max's room and Aaron knew Chloe would tell him when she was ready.

By the time Chloe stopped the truck, the two were down by the beach. They were at the end of a dirt road that had dividers in place to stop any vehicles from driving onto the sand. Chloe got out and Aaron followed her across the beach-front. The mid day sun shone on the pair as they walked across the sand. It was heating up.

Aaron removed his jacket and tied it around his waist as he walked across the warm ocean front. There was a wall of rocks to his left that inclined as they got taller and the blue sea on his right. It was a scene that made him feel tranquil and peaceful. It gave off a secluded vibe that made him feel much more relaxed. It seemed like a place that you'd only find if you knew about it.

The rounded a corner, following the boulders on the left as they walked in silence. The sand went straight as far as the eye could see. There seemed to be miles of nothing but sand, rock and ocean for miles.

Chloe walked barefoot on the sand with her boots in her right hand as she strode to no particular destination. Aaron followed silently behind, his shoes remained on his feet as he was too lazy to take them off.

After what seemed like days of walking, Chloe finally stopped and sat on the sand and leant against the rocks. Aaron stood beside her, leaning into the stony, not yet mossy mountain beside him.

"Everything's fucked Aaron" Chloe finally spoke "You ever get that feeling that the whole world's against you and no matter how good something gets, it'll eventually be taken away from you?"

"More than you know, trust me. The only advice I can give you is just never give up. Life is constantly gonna throw this wack shit at you so you gotta strive to be the best you can be. No one's gonna do anything for you so you should give them a reason to take notice of you for the right reasons. It's never gonna be easy but you just gotta always give a hundred and ten percent, you do that and life just becomes so much easier" Aaron said as he sat down next to Chloe.

"At least I can always count on you to cheer me up. Thanks for following me today, I mean you had no reason to but it's just nice to vent in your own way and I just needed to get away from that death-trap of a town"

Aaron hated seeing people upset, especially someone like Chloe who is always full of life and energy. He knew she needed to blow off some steam and he'd be there to help her get through it.

"Don't sweat it man, I've been waiting to say some philosophical shit lately so thanks for the chance" Aaron joked, getting a smile out of Chloe in the process. "I'm not gonna ask what happened, that's your business. Just know if you wanna talk about it, I'm here"

Chloe needed this, something to take her mind off of Max and Aaron was probably the best thing. He was so kind, so understanding and he had such an open mind that not many people had. He was truly a friend for life.

"I won't give you the satisfaction but it was to do with Max" Chloe said with a small smile creeping onto her face.

"You know I already knew that" Aaron replied as he nudged Chloe playfully. "I don't miss a thing, just like that cave over there"

Chloe's head turned to see where Aaron was pointing and sure enough, there was a small opening into the mountain just a few metres away from where they'd already been sitting. Chloe got up and decided to explore what Aaron had noticed.

It was just a small opening which lead to what looked like an open room, it wasn't very big, just where the water had eroded the rocks in a weird place, causing the mountain's shape to open like it had before the two teenagers.

Aaron sat down out of the suns hot rays; it was nice and cool behind the rocks and he didn't want to leave anytime soon. Chloe could tell Aaron was relaxed, he was hard to read but the obvious expressions spoke for themselves. Chloe thought about the situation she was in and then thought about Aaron. She took a few seconds before blurting out with something that only Chloe Price would say.

"Wanna have casual sex to help me take my mind off Max?"

Aaron was taken by extreme surprise but he wouldn't let it show. Instead he simply looked around at the rocks that shielded them from the sand and water before looking back at Chloe and saying "Let's do it" in the most nonchalant tone anyone could have had when responding to an offer of sex.

The two placed their jackets on the floor before Chloe placed her arm on Aaron's shoulder, pulling him in for a kiss. He kissed her passionately back as he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her in close.

The kissing lasted for a while but as soon as it was done, their clothes were off quicker than one of Chloe's quips. Aaron placed his left arm under Chloe's head as he lay alongside her and started using his right hand to do something else. Chloe let out soft moans as Aaron's fingers rubbed her slowly. She placed her arms around his neck and pulled her head into his shoulder in an effort to prepare for what his fingers would do next.

Without hesitation, Aaron's middle and index fingers found themselves inside Chloe whose body reacted accordingly. Aaron picked up the pace as Chloe's body contracted in response to what he was doing.

A few minutes later and Chloe came all over Aaron's fingers as she let go of his neck. Wanting to return the favour, she pushed Aaron down on his back and moved her head down. She swallowed his cock and started to suck and jerk on it as Aaron's eyes rolled back into his skull in ecstasy. Chloe did it for a few minutes before they both grew bored of foreplay and moved onto what they both wanted right now.

Chloe lay back as Aaron climbed on top of her and placed himself inside her, nice and slowly. Chloe moaned at how good it felt, clawing Aaron's back in response to the feeling.

They were both aware that it was a casual thing, there were no feelings between the two but Chloe wished they'd do this more often as she was in a state of bliss she hadn't felt in a long time.

Similarly, Aaron didn't make a grand spectacle out of it. he'd fuck her good enough to satisfy her but would put as little effort into it as he was lazy and it was just a casual fuck. The two were similar in the way they'd be able to carry on their friendship without it being awkward. Chloe's in a bad place as she has strong feelings for Max but Max is pushing her away. Aaron knows he's just a distraction and was only doing this as a friend. They'd both be able to move past this like it was nothing at all because that's exactly what it was.

After thirty minutes or so, Aaron could feel the end coming so he pulled out, stood up, told Chloe to get on her knees and sprayed a hot load all in her open mouth. Their time had come to and after the two cleaned up, they changed into their underwear and engaged in post-coital cuddles. As Aaron hugged Chloe from behind, he said:

"I'm not a bad person for doing this am I? I feel kinda, I don't know, wrong" Aaron was referencing his affection for Kate without realising.

"Nah you're good; this was just a casual thing I needed. We both know it doesn't mean anything" Chloe didn't think Aaron was out to sleep with her, she knew he wasn't like that but if she had to have casual sex with any dude, she'd probably have picked him anyway.

The day had not gone how Aaron thought it would, but that's what he loved, being surprised, not knowing what was to come. He knew that Max must be having a hard time with this just as much as Chloe and when he got back to Blackwell, she'd need someone to be there for her. He just didn't wanna get caught up between the two, they were both his friends and he wanted to help both of them. He really hoped they'd be able to sort this all out.

* * *

He watched Aaron follow Chloe to her truck, he could see Aaron but Aaron had no idea he was there. Marcus scratched his chin as his eyes tracked Aaron's every step. When he got into Chloe's truck, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small radio.

"Beta to The Pack, message, over" his voice was husky and deep.

"Roger Beta, send, over" A female voice called from the other end of the device, it was low and firm.

"Target is leaving school grounds now, break, shown signs of inquisition after spotting me earlier. Want me to pursue, over?"

"Negative Beta, brake track and return to The Den, acknowledge, over"

"Acknowledged" He said before laughing maliciously then grinning. "He has absolutely no idea what's about to happen"

 _ **A/N:- Ok, so yeah, shit's hit the fan. Sorry I pulled a surprise sex scene on you, I'm not doing this to troll you or anything.**_

 _ **The pieces are all on the board so consider the prelude or whatever to this story over and the first Act, if you will, is about to begin. This story is gonna get extremely crazy and I can only ask you see it through to its conclusion.**_

 _ **I hope the sex scene wasn't shit, as you know, I don't tend to write them and this is only the second proper time I've done one so please consider that.**_

 _ **If you have any feedback, please give it to me, I love hearing from you all in either a Review or a PM. If you like the story, please Follow and Favourite it. It means a great deal to me and reminds me I'm doing something right so please take like 10 seconds to tick those two boxes and I would appreciate it indefinitely.**_

 _ **I plan to upload a new LiS fic sometime next week that will most likely Include Aaron (For those of you that love him) and will take place after the tornado hits Arcadia bay. AU, no time powers, a lot of the LiS cast and a post apocalyptic setting. It'll be called 'The Chrysalis Experiment' for those of you who are interested. It'll be a massive change of pace from this one and I promise not to disappoint.**_

 _ **That's all for now guys, see ya soon!**_


	10. Chapter 10-Loneliness

Chapter 10:-Loneliness Won't be the Death of Me

 _ **A/N:-I'll keep this short and sweet, two new LiS stories are out, go give 'em a read, I'd appreciate it very much. Hope you enjoy this chapter, I've been writing a lot theses past few days so if the quality degrades, it's cus I'm drained so I apologise.**_

Kate tried to scream but failed; her mouth covered by her attackers disgusting hand. She tried kicking out in an effort to escape but the other one had control of her legs, he was gripping them tightly, not letting her go.

She flung her arms wildly, catching the third in the face, causing him to crash to the floor holding his wound.

"You shouldn't have done that you little cunt!" the voice spat, filled with venom that made Kate fear for her life as tears started to roll down her cheek.

 **10 hours earlier, the Two Whales Diner, Tuesday, 14:23**

Max and Aaron sat in a booth enjoying their late breakfast/early dinner. They talked idly about the upcoming portfolio that they had to do for Jefferson's class, what they planned to do if they failed their finals and how good the food was.

The sun was up and occasionally masked by clouds to stop it from blinding the two as they tried to enjoy their meal. The wind was tame and the birds tweeted as Aaron shovelled some of his Ham and Cheese omelette into his mouth while Max took a swig of her orange juice.

"So lemme get this straight" Aaron started before swallowing his food. "You two kissed and now you don't want anything to do with her"

"No, it's not like that, I mean it is but not the way you'd think" Max responded as she tried to find the right words to say. "It got me thinking, about us, me and her, I'm confused on how I feel for Chloe and I need time to think it through"

"So you think you have feelings for her?" Aaron questioned as he stopped eating and looked at Max.

"That's the thing, I don't know if I do. I need to work this out without her to influence my feelings. She wouldn't do it on purpose but by just being around her, I'll get confused even more and it'll take longer for me to decide"

Aaron nodded as he processed what Max had said, it was making sense to him, he could see her reasons for doing what she thought was right.

"She misses you like crazy Max, I spent all day Sunday with her and all she did was find new ways to insult you"

"I wouldn't exactly call that missing me" Max pointed out as she sat back in her chair.

"She couldn't stop talking about you; she was saying those things as an excuse to think about you"

Max pondered what Aaron had said; she cared immensely for Chloe and knew she cared for her. She needed to get her head right and right now she had to finish her portfolio before the end of the month. It was the 15th of October and she needed to finish it within fifteen days as well as other assignments from her other classes. She just had too much going on and wanted to get it out of the way so she'd have undivided time to think about what she wanted from Chloe.

Max sighed as she placed her forehead in her hands, she wanted nothing more than to crawl up and sleep for a year. She knew it wasn't gonna happen, she was stuck here.

"Any idea what your portfolio is gonna be on?" Aaron inquired, doing his best to change the subject.

"Uh, animals" Max replied in a fairly dull, uninterested tone. "I'm gonna shoot different animals at different times of the day. What about you?"

"The hidden beauty that we all see differently"

"That's pretty vague, even for you" Max stated as she looked up at Aaron.

"We see things differently, it's human nature to like different things" Aaron knew drawing out what he meant was a good way to occupy Max's mind. "What I consider beautiful, others wouldn't bat an eye at. I'm gonna show that beauty isn't just on the outside, it takes a special kind of place that only certain people would look for it. There's beauty in appearance that everyone see's but I'm showing everyone the hidden beauty that's inside all of us"

Max had to admire Aaron's passion for photography; his unique outlook on life allowed him to see things other people would look over. Max loved how he could turn something meaningless into something so amazing.

"Ok, where do you plan to find this 'hidden beauty', you do realise you have to take photo's mind? You can't just talk to Mr Jefferson like you are to me" Max pointed out before taking another swig of juice.

"No shit, genius, I already know what I'm photographing, I just haven't gotten around to it yet, plus I'll need it to rain" Max looked at Aaron, she was confused by what he had said. "I'm gonna take a few shots outside when it's raining so I can get the point across that the beauty is there come storm or shine"

Max wasn't gonna argue with Aaron, there was clearly some method behind his madness and if his work spoke for him, Max knew that she'd be left in awe when she looks at his final piece.

Aaron had spent the last two days with Max, offering her the support she needed while she dealt with 'The Chloe Price Syndrome'. Monday was mainly the two taking shots of Blackwell, offering hints and tips and sharing photography ideas. It had worked; Max was so caught up in what was happening that she had no time to think about Chloe.

Today was a different matter all together; Aaron didn't know what to do. Max was a very reserved individual and didn't really do much apart from take photos. Aaron knew he'd have to think of something else.

The tow made their way out of the diner and walked towards the bus stop. Aaron placed his hands in his jacket pocket while Max looked at her phone as they both waited for the bus.

"I've got some laundry to do when we get back; come up to my dorm later though, I should be done by then" Max asked as she turned to face Aaron.

"Yeah, no sweat; there's some shit I need to do myself anyway so I'll get on with that then come see you" Aaron replied with a smile.

* * *

Kate sat at her desk drawing nothing in particular as the sun shone into her room. She was content at being able to relax more frequently as of late and she was enjoying it. For some reason, the name calling and had drastically been reduced and Kate had no idea why. She couldn't complain though, she was slowly becoming more of her old self.

She smiled as she thought about having friends again; Max, Aaron, even Chloe could be counted and it brought peace to Kate. There would still be times where she'd cry herself to sleep though. The fault lying with her family more than her peers at Blackwell. The events of the vortex club party had long stretching consequences.

Her phone vibrated, alerting her to a message from Aaron:

 _Hey Kate, if you're not busy later, wanna let me take some shots for my portfolio?_

Kate couldn't help but smile whenever she received a text from Aaron. He had really made positive changes in her life and she was finally starting to feel happy again.

 _Sure, I'd love to!_ Kate replied with a big smile on her face. She was still unable to get over the fact that Aaron Heartfield wanted to take pictures of her. It made Kate feel all warm and fuzzy inside, knowing that someone found her good enough to take her picture.

 _I'll meet you by the benches in like five?_ Aaron texted back, secretly hoping he'd get to see Kate sooner than later.

 _I'm on my way_ Kate's text read, causing Aaron to smile from ear to ear.

Aaron made his way out of his dorm room and headed for the benches to meet Kate. He didn't want to seem too eager but he was having more and more trouble repressing how he felt about her.

On the outside, he played it as cool as always, seeming like he wasn't all that bothered about what happened between the two but on the inside, he felt like he was about to explode. His heart faced whenever he saw her and constantly had butterflies in his stomach whenever he thought about her.

It confused him because he'd never felt this way about anyone before, especially not this quickly. Aaron had known Kate properly for like a week and she was all he could think about. As he walked out of the boys' dormitory and across the grass, he pictured himself and Kate walking side by side, hand in hand, smiling all the way. He didn't know it but here he was, falling in love with a girl he'd known for eight days.

Fighting it became harder and harder, he wanted to tell her how he felt, scream it at the world and let everyone know that he loved Kate Marsh. Obviously, he'd keep it to himself; he was a practical person after all and so no benefit of declaring his love of someone to seven billion people who don't care.

As Aaron saw the back of Kate's head as she sat on the bench, he smiled and picked up the pace without realising. He took his camera off from around his neck and flipped his black hair out of his left eye that he had done so many times before.

"Hey" Aaron called out, his mind went blank of what to say.

Kate turned to and saw Aaron come into view, seeing him made her smile. "Hey Aaron, how are you?" her tone gentle and innocent just like always.

"I'm good thanks, you ready to just sit there and look amazing?" Aaron's words elevated Kate to a new level. Although sounding uninterested and plain when spoken, they filled Kate with joy.

"Yes, just tell me what to do"

Aaron assessed what was around him: he looked at the position of the sun behind the trees, where the best lighting was and how clear his background was.

"Just sit on the table and rest your legs on the seat. Perfect, now turn to your right slightly and place your hands in your lap. Good, now look in front of you" Aaron directed as he shot Kate from an angle. The light lit up the wall of the academy and background, keeping Kate and the foreground mostly in the shade, with the odd ray of light shining through the leaves. "Ok, now look down at your hands for me" Aaron called as he snapped another shot of Kate. "These are brilliant, I just wanna take a few more and we should be good for now"

Aaron led Kate to one of the tree's by the front doors to Blackwell and directed her to sit down under it. She couldn't believe it; she was being photographed by THE Aaron Heartfield.

"Aaron, am I doing ok so far?" She asked.

"Brilliant; now just lift your knee's up and hold them with both hands. Great, just look over to your right, just away from me" Aaron added as he moved slightly to the left of Kate and took the photo. She was truly beautiful. "Amazing, you're a natural Kate, you should model for me more often"

Kate blushed at what Aaron said, she really enjoyed posing for him but she wouldn't have considered herself a model.

"Is there anything else you need me to do?" Kate asked, hoping for more opportunities to spend time with Aaron.

"Not right now, I'll need to wait for the weather to change. Do you have any problems about well, sitting in the rain and letting me take some photos then?" Aaron knew asking anyone to sit out in the rain was crazy. No one wanted to willingly get wet and soaked, it was uncomfortable and annoying.

"Um, I guess I could" Kate's answer surprised Aaron. "I mean it's not every day a girl gets asked by Aaron Heartfield to pose for a photo"

"Kate, you really don't need to big me up like that, I'm just an ordinary guy" Kate's words made Aaron feel happy but he hated being seen as anything other than regular.

"Ok, I won't" Kate acknowledged as she stood up and walked next to Aaron. "If there's nothing more you need, I'll catch you later" Kate began as she smiled and started to turn away.

 _Now you idiot!_ Aaron's brain screamed at him as Kate began to walk away.

"Actually Kate, I was hoping that maybe you, I don't know, maybe you wanted to go grab some food or something?"

Kate couldn't help but beam with happiness before saying: "Yeah, I'd like that, when do you wanna go?"

"Well I gotta help Max with some shit first so...seven-ish?" Aaron asked as he placed his camera around his neck.

"Well I'll see you at seven then" Kate replied before waving and walking off.

Aaron smiled as he sat down on the bench; he took his phone out and texted Max.

 _Yo, you free now, I can come up if you want?_

 _Yeah, you know where my room is_ Max replied. Aaron got up and headed for the girls dorm.

As he walked, all Aaron could do was think about spending time with Kate. Where would he take her, what would they do, how long would they stay out? All those questions rang in his head as he ascended the steps of the girls' dorm. He wouldn't let anyone see it but he was nervous.

Aaron knocked on Max's door and entered when she called for him to from the other side. She was sitting down at her computer watching compilations of photographers. Not something Aaron would watch but to each his own.

"Hey Aaron, you know you don't have to do this mind?" Max stated as she turned around in her chair to face Aaron.

"I know but what kind of friend would I be if I didn't help you. I'm helping Chloe cope, I'm not gonna leave you out" Aaron thought it would be best to leave out the bit where he slept with Chloe...

"It's fine you can go if you want"

"Look Max, I really don't mind helping you get through this" Aaron interjected Max's denial and picked up her acoustic guitar. "I didn't know you played"

"Yeah, I tend not to play it much. I know a few songs but I doubt you'd have heard of them" Max replied as she watched Aaron sit down on her bed.

"Try me" he said as he handed Max her guitar.

Max just thought of some songs in her head; they were all pretty much indie or quiet rock songs and she knew Aaron was a lot more hardcore than that.

Not long after strumming loosely a few times, Max started to play 'Northern Downpour' by Panic! At the Disco. She strummed the chords nonchalantly and before she knew it, she heard Aaron start to sing softly from his position next to her on her bed.

"If all our life is but a dream, fantastic posing greed, then we should feed our jewellery to the sea, for diamonds do appear to be, just like broken glass to me"

Max's mouth hung in amazement as she heard Aaron sing. She turned and saw him just singing along as he looked at the floor. He turned to face her and let out a smile as he sang. His voice was angelic and soft, something Max would never have guessed Aaron would have sounded like if someone told her he could sing.

"Hey moon, please forget to fall down, hey moon, don't you go down. Sugarcane in the easy morning, weathervanes, my one and lonely" Aaron carried on singing along with Max's playing.

Max couldn't get over how good of a singer he was. His tone was so soft and majestic, like listening to an Angel sing and Max was still in awe. She stopped playing and turned to Aaron who was just smiling shyly on her bed.

"I had no idea you could sing!" Max exclaimed.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me" Aaron replied with a wink. "If you want, we could spend some hours singing and playing of you want?"

Max just smiled and began to play another song in the hopes that Aaron knew it.

The two played many songs over the course of the afternoon. Some Aaron knew and some he had to look up the lyrics for. Max enjoyed hearing him sing, he was really good and it brightened her mood.

Their activity continued for a few hours, up to around six when Max realised she needed to get some studying done.

"Thank you for this, Aaron, I really needed it"

"Don't sweat it Max, it was my pleasure"

"I had no idea you could sing so well" Aaron smiled at Max's words. "Have you ever thought about joining a band?"

Aaron laughed at what Max said. "Hey, I'm already a famous photographer, I don't need anything else on my plate" Aaron joked, causing Max to laugh. "Besides, I get mad stage fright and would never wanna be in front of people. I'm happy singing in my room"

"You've defiantly gotta come sing with me again though?" Max asked.

"Well, only because it's you" Aaron added as he walked to the door. "You know where I am if you need me, I'll see you around Max"

* * *

Marcus paced idly back and forth as he watched the entrance to the girls' dorm. He was waiting for his prey to leave and when he did, Marcus would be on him.

"I wonder what Alpha see's in this one?" A man called out from behind him. He had the same red vested jacket and wolf tattoo as Marcus, only his hair was a warm brown and tied up into a pony tail. He was leaning against the wall, out of sight as Marcus watched for Aaron.

"I don't know, Jake, but we listen to her. If she says he's the next one, then we go and get him" Marcus' gruff tone sounded impatient, he had been watching the dorms since Aaron went in around noon, after photographing some blonde girl. "Read back to me today's report"

"12:23, target leaves Blackwell and boards the 12:30 bus. 12:56, target leaves bus and meets up with brown haired girl, identified to be Max Caulfield at the two Whales diner. The two eat food and converse about unknown topics. Agents remain undetected and wait for further contact. 14:48, target leaves diner with Max Caulfield and board the 15:00 bus back to Blackwell. 15:37, target meets up with unknown blonde and takes photographs until 15:43. Agents still remain unseen as target heads into girls' dorm, activities unknown" Jake read back to Marcus. "That's all we got so far"

Marcus sighed as he watched the door. "I don't like all this waiting, we don't know enough about him, Alpha won't be happy"

Marcus was a man who hated failure; he didn't get to where he was by fucking up and he wouldn't fuck up now. He lit his fourteenth cigarette of the day and took a long drag. The sun was setting and he didn't really want to be out in the dark. His visibility was limited and it made his job harder. He'd rather have nothing to report than report something that could be inaccurate.

"We're done for today" Marcus proclaimed as he turned his attention away from the doors of the girls' dorm. "Alpha gave me plenty of time and I aim to use it. Don't worry; we'll bring him in sooner rather than later"

* * *

Kate made her way to the bus stop; she saw Aaron waiting patiently for her. When he saw her, he smiled and offered a wave that Kate promptly returned in her own shy way. Kate was still nervous going places but Aaron seemed to calm her down to level's she never thought she'd see anytime soon.

"I decided to try Domino's again, let's hope there's no pizza party this time" Aaron remarked, getting a small giggle from Kate in the process.

The two boarded the bus when it arrived and sat next to each other. They talked a lot more than they did on their previous bus ride and openly went out of their way to find out more about each other.

Aaron found out Kate's favourite colour was yellow and Kate found out Aaron's was white. She learned that his dad worked for Pharmex, a leading company in pharmaceuticals and that's why he moved from Portland to Arcadia Bay. Aaron neglected to talk about his mother though.

Kate told Aaron about her obvious Christian background and he was incredibly understanding and kind about it. She explained how it wouldn't have been her decision but she was raised this way and it was all she knew.

They both avoided the topic of the Vortex Club party; Aaron as he knew Kate wouldn't want to talk about it and Kate was too ashamed to want to discuss it. The small talk they chose instead was much more pleasant.

Aaron also showed Kate the photo's he'd taken from earlier. She was in awe as to how good Aaron made her look. He insisted it was all her and all he did was take the photo but Kate wouldn't have it. She insisted that the only reason she looked like that was because of how good of a photographer Aaron was.

When the bus finally stopped, the two made their way to Domino's. It wasn't very full so they decided now would be their best chance to order. Aaron ordered a plain cheese and tomato and Kate had ham and mushroom. Aaron offered to pay for both but Kate insisted that she pay for her own.

They sat opposite each other in one of the booths as they waited for their food.

"I figured you to be more of a meat feast kinda guy" Kate stated.

"Nah, I'm a lame ass and prefer good ol' fashioned cheese and tomato" Aaron responded as he took a bottle of water from out of his bag. "You eat Domino's often?"

"Duh, everyone likes pizza, even a religious recluse such as myself"

Aaron just smiled back at Kate, he was enjoying just being this close to her and he as happy he could. He wanted to spend every second of every day with her and he had no idea why. Her pretty face just stared back at him as he examined her features. Her eyes were so cute but it was her smile that was his favourite. Aaron loved seeing Kate smile and wanted her to do it as often as possible.

Kate on the other hand was just happy to be spending time with someone outside of Blackwell. Aaron was such a nice person and really made her feel happy. It was strange how he was friends with everyone. From Max to Hayden and Trevor to Zach and here he was with her, ordering pizza.

When the food finally arrived, they both ate quickly due to how hungry they both were. The odd conversation popped up but they were both more than content with the other persons company.

"I'm glad we finally got to have Domino's" Aaron chimed in as he closed his empty box. "I'm so glad you let me take you out Kate, thank you"

"I should be thanking you, silly. You've done more for me in a week than anyone at this stupid school and I don't know what to say"

"Don't say anything, just let me take you out more" Aaron's words made Kate light up with happiness. She enjoyed feeling happy again.

"Ok, you've got yourself a deal" Kate replied as the two stood up to leave.

They made their way along the street to the bus stop. Due to it being close to half past eight, they had to walk a few minutes to a bus stop up the road where the late bus would stop and take them back to Blackwell. Aaron offered Kate his jacket but once again, she declined. She appreciated the gesture though.

"So, what do you plan to do after college?" Aaron asked as he flipped his hair out of his eye and placed his hands in the pocket of his jacket.

"I haven't really thought about it, I mean I wanted to illustrate children's books but I don't know now. What about you?"

"Well, I-what was that?" Aaron stated as he turned around. He had heard a noise from behind them.

"Aaron, what's wrong?" Kate asked, not thinking much of it but Aaron's next words made her scared.

"We've been followed since we left Domino's"

Aaron quickly placed his left arm over Kate's shoulders and picked up the pace. He hoped to get the bus before anyone came onto him and Kate.

As they turned the corner and started to walk down the street, Aaron noticed a man standing a few metres in front of them. He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around but it was no good. There was someone behind them and he was walking closer and closer by the second. Aaron looked across the road and just as he suspected, there was a third man there as well.

Kate was starting to panic as the three men closed in on them. Aaron pulled her in close and she placed her hands on his shoulders to get as close to him as possible. He made her feel save but right now, all Kate could do was hide into Aaron.

"Lovely night for a walk" the man who was walking towards them said. He was short and dressed in all black, just like his two associates. He had a black skullcap on that covered up his bald head and beady brown eyes.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" Aaron asked. His tone showed that he wasn't afraid of them.

"As a matter of fact, you can" The short one said. He was obviously the 'brains' of this whole thing. "You can place your valuables into my friend's bag over there" he gestured to the tall man that was standing behind them. "Money, watches, earrings, anything that will get me a decent sum of bills"

"Sorry, I don't think I can help you with that" Aaron shot, his grip still holding Kate closely to him.

"I'm gonna ask again, only this time, if you don't give us something of value, we'll kick your fucking head in and take it off your bloody corpse!"

Kate looked up at Aaron who just stared back at him; his gaze seemed unbreakable as he stared the small man down. Kate was scared, she really didn't want to see Aaron get hurt but they were three fully grown men and he was just one seventeen year old boy.

"You lay a finger on either of us and I'll take your god damn head off"

"So that's how it's gonna be huh? Ok, Smiley, shoe this prick what we do to hero's"

Aaron felt a searing pain shoot through his back as the tall man behind him struck him on the head with something. Aaron crashed to the floor as it started to rain. He could feel the blood running down his neck as the raindrops fell all around him. His vision was blurred and his eyes struggled to stay open.

Aaron looked up and saw the tree men around Kate, she was screaming, begging them to let her go. Seeing her like that angered Aaron, he wanted to rip them apart and feed them to a group of hungry dogs. Kate's cries echoed through his ears as he found his strength, Aaron dug deep and forced himself to stand.

He no longer felt pain, just anger and he'd make them pay for touching Kate.

Aaron grabbed the tall man by the shoulders and threw him to the floor. The third man saw this and ran at Aaron, only for him to punch him in the face. The third man landed next to his tall counterpart and as he looked up, he saw Aaron viciously stop on his face. The tall mugger cried out in pain as he placed his hand to his nose. It was gushing with blood as he rolled around on the wet sidewalk in agony.

The third man got up, his vision blurred but he managed to make out Aaron spear the short man to the ground. He approached the two and pulled Aaron off his short friend, it was a bad mistake.

Aaron punched him three times in the side of the head and then once in the chest. He fell back, only to have Aaron boot him in the side of the head as he hit the wet ground.

With the odds even, Aaron slowly approached the small mugger. His skullcap had been lost in the scuffle and he was on his knees as Aaron approached him.

"Look mister, we get it, I'm sorry. Let us go and we won't bother you ever again" his plea was pitiful but at least he had sense to not try and fight Aaron one on one.

"I told you what would happen if you laid a finger on us. I don't care about myself but you went after a woman, a girl. You're scum and I'll make sure you don't hurt anyone again" Aaron snarled as the rain crashed down on him, he was soaking wet but moved like a man possessed.

He kneed the man in the chin, sending him crashing to his back. Aaron straddled him and began to punch his face vigorously. Left hook followed by right hook over and over until his bald head was covered in his own blood and Aaron's. Aaron stood up panting, as he caught his breathe back, he walked over to Kate who was sitting on the wet sidewalk, doing her best to stay away from the carnage that ensued.

She was shocked at what Aaron had done; he managed to beat up three fully grown men on his own. She was horrified but didn't know how to react. He did that to protect her; he went to that length for her. Kate was shaking in fear, tears still ran down her cheeks but she was glad it was over.

"Aaron offered out a blood-soaked hand which Kate accepted and pulled her up. As the rain poured down on them, he looked into her eyes and said:  
"I promised I'd never let anyone hurt you again, and I meant it"

 _ **A/N:-Ok, that chapter was a bit of a mess but I'm going away in like 12 hours and I wanted to finish this chapter off before I left.**_

 _ **I wanna know your thoughts on it and how the story's going so far. Let me know in a review or PM. If you like the story, Follow/Fave it so you'll know when I update it and see the continuation of this semi cliff-hanger.**_

 _ **If you haven't already, check out my new LiS stories, The Chrysalis Experiment and The Chloe Price Syndrome, send some love their way as they're still in their infancy.**_

 _ **Much love for all the support, see you all soon!**_


	11. Chapter 11-Not Ready to Tell

Chapter 11:-Not ready to tell

Aaron panted as he made his way across the grass in front of Blackwell; his right arm sheltering Kate as best he could from the rain as it crashed down around him. The sky bellowed with thunder as the black clouds poured rain onto the ground below. It was extremely uncomfortable, being outside in it. Aaron only had one focus on his mind however and that was getting Kate back to her dorm room where she'd be safe.

They quietly but quickly made their way up the stairs, trying not to draw any attention during the late hours of the night. Aaron scanned both sides of the hallway as they hurried down it to Kate's room. The adrenaline had worn off and all Aaron felt now was fatigue and tiredness. The fight had taken a lot out of him and he felt like he would collapse soon but not before getting Kate to the security of her bedroom.

Kate clung to Aaron, trusting him to guide her as the approached her door. She was still in shock of the events that just happened and couldn't wrap her head around seventeen year old Aaron being able to take on and beat three fully grown men. There were so many questions to be answered; the living enigma that was Aaron Heartfield.

Kate opened the door and made her way inside; Aaron followed her in and closed the door behind them before sliding down against it. Once he was on the floor, Aaron let out a sigh of relief and exhaustion as he looked up at the ceiling. His soaking wet clothes clung to his body, making him feel so uncomfortable but due to the lack of energy he head, he wasn't that bothered.

Rather than turning on the main light, Kate turned the two bedside lamps on to illuminate the room. She quickly took her soaking wet cardigan off and discarded it underneath her radiator before turning her desk lamp on. With more light in the room, she slid her shoes off and placed them under her desk and placed her damp socks on top of her cardigan.

"I can leave if you're gonna change" Aaron said as he stood up. His back had started to ache now.

"In the state you're in, there's no chance you're going anywhere" Kate replied as she checked on Alice. "I'd appreciate it if you looked away though"

"Not a problem" Aaron replied as he turned and faced the mirror on Kate's wall. He wondered why it was covered up. _Maybe she was in a rush and didn't realise her towel landed on it?_ Aaron theorised as he stared at it some more. _Best leave it there for now, if I move it, it will look like I'm tryna sneak a peek_.

Aaron exhaled as he rubbed the back of his neck; he quivered a bit as he touched the wound on his head. He had forgotten about it until now and wasn't too grateful for the reminder. _Shit that's gonna leave a mark_.

"Ok, you can turn around now" Kate gently informed. She was wearing a hazel-brown dressing gown on top of what Aaron would guess as underwear. He didn't know for sure because he couldn't see but it seemed a bit out of place for Kate to wear nothing other than a dressing gown.

"Safe and sound" Aaron declared as he let out a soft smile. "I'm gonna go now cus these clothes are starting to get uncomfortable and are making me feel cold"

"You can borrow something of mine" Kate chimed in as she threw an old t-shirt and pants that she'd use for sleeping in at Aaron. "You're not leaving until I make sure you're ok"

Aaron's insides lit up as he heard Kate speak; the fact that she cared about him that much was something he wasn't used to seeing and it made him feel happy. "You sure Kate? I'm a big boy and can take care of myself"

"I know you can but I wanna be sure. You made sure I was ok, it's the least I can do" Kate added as she smiled back at Aaron.

Realising he wasn't gonna win, Aaron took of his jacket and shirt before Kate realised what was going on. When she realised what was happening, she turned away and allowed Aaron the privacy he give to her. She couldn't help but think about his torso; it was well toned and also full of bruises. Kate figured some were earned just now but others seemed older, almost like scars. A quick two second glance wasn't enough to be sure so she wouldn't make any assumptions but she had to be sure that there was nothing Aaron needed help with.

"So how do I look?" Aaron asked, causing Kate to turn around. He had a short sleeved black t-shirt that had a rainbow cupcake on the front and a pair of plane white pyjama bottoms that were a few inches too short, leaving his lower shins on display. Kate couldn't help but laugh at the purple fluffy socks he was wearing on his feet. "What, my toes were cold and they were just lying there so I improvised" Aaron blurted out as Kate chuckled over him.

Kate was still shocked and stunned by the events that had followed her dinner date with Aaron. She was still shaking with fear despite being in the sanctuary of her dorm room and having Aaron there to help her. Despite all this, she knew Aaron would need her help just like she needed his.

Kate gestured for Aaron to sit on the square stool that was by the side of her couch as she reluctantly approached her bedroom door. Checking the coast was clear; Kate left her room and crossed the hallway to the bathroom. Aaron sat on the stool as he waited to see what Kate was doing; he was starting to get confused.

A few minutes later, Kate returned to her room with a wet flannel in her hand.

"Face away from me" She stated as she sat on the couch behind Aaron.

She pulled his head in close to her lap and searched through the thick mess that was his hair for the wound that was inflicted upon him. Kate gently dabbed the wet compress on where she could see blood, doing her best to clean it up. Aaron winced slightly for the first few instances but slowly became accustom to its bittersweet feeling.

Aaron was in line with Alice's cage and studied it while Kate cleaned up the back of his head. He was looking for something to take his mind away from the gaping wound that was present at the back of his head. He could feel Kate's gentle left hand at the base of his neck while her right hand went to work on cleaning up the blood from his cut. Her skin felt cold against his but it was something he welcomed. Aaron found an unusual comfort in the idea that Kate was touching him, that her skin was in contact with his own.

"You don't have to do this, you know" Aaron began as a way to break the comfortable silence between the two. "You've seen enough unpleasentries for tonight"

"I know, but I want to" Kate replied "If you weren't there, I'd hate to think what would have happened"

"If I didn't take you out in the first place, nothing would have happened" Aaron sounded upset, yet angry. He blamed himself for what happened. "It was stupid of me to ask you out again so soon, I should have waited"

"Don't you dare think like that" Kate had heard enough; she stood up and walked around so she was standing in front of Aaron. "You've shown me nothing but kindness and compassion in the short week I've known you" Kate knelt down so she was in line with Aaron. She could see the anguish and pain in his eyes. "The times I've spent with you have been marvellous and I wouldn't change them for anything" Kate brought her left hand up and cupped Aaron's cheek before rubbing the solemn tear away from his eye. "You have nothing to be sorry for"

Aaron smiled and placed his right hand on Kate's; he began to stroke it as he let out a meek smile. She was right, he had been so kind to her for no reason other than he wanted to show her good, kind people still existed at Blackwell. True, he had fallen for her along the way but that was more of a reason to avoid her. Aaron hated letting people close as it never ended well for them. He welcomed friendships with people to no end but anything more and whoever he let close wound up getting hurt.

"There's so much I wish I could tell you, Kate. So much that you deserve to know but I just...I don't want you getting hurt" Aaron remarked as he pulled his eyes away from hers.

"I appreciate your concern but if you want me to understand, you'll need to tell me" Kate pleaded as she took hold of both of his hands in hers.

"I know, I know but it's not that simple" Aaron protested as he swallowed hard "I'll try, ok, I'll try and let you know a few things at a time, when the time is right"

"Ok, I understand, that seems fair. I promise I won't tell anyone" Kate said as she offered a friendly smile at Aaron. "Could you at least tell me something now?" Kate asked with mild curiosity. She didn't want to overstep the mark but she needed to know some of what went on in Aaron's life. If she wanted to be there for him and help him, she needed to know what she was helping him with.

Aaron took a deep breath before he started: "Ok, ok, um...I..." Aaron trailed off, almost like he was ashamed.

"It's ok, I'm not one to judge, and you know this" Kate reassured.

"Ok...see my right eye?" Aaron asked, getting a confirming nod from Kate. "It's...uh...it's not real" Was taken aback by what Aaron had said. Hs eye wasn't real? How was that possible, it looked and behaved just like a normal eye?

"Aaron, I don't understand"

"When I was young, I was in an accident that it left me blind in my right eye" Aaron began, Kate understood this was very hard for him to talk about and his facial expression was further proof. "I'm not gonna go into detail, that's another secret for another time but basically, my eye is robotic. I can still see and have full control; it's just not the same eye I was born with. Finding the right colour to mach my other eye was seriously hard" Aaron joked, getting a laugh from Kate.

"If you don't mind me asking, how do you see?" Kate asked, her hands never letting go of Aarons.

"Well, behind my 'lens' there's this tiny little camera that's connected to my retina and optic nerve. The way we see is that an image is broadcast to our retina, flipped upside down and yeah, we can see. As I don't have a lens, the camera picks up the image, displays it to the retina and yeah, I can see. It's all based on electric messages that are sent to my brain, there's a pulse of something like sixty electrodes per second or something. I would take it out and show you but there's this big control chip on the side of my eye that won't allow me to just pull it out" Aaron stated as he pointed to the space between the start of the top of his nose and his eye socket.

Kate was still shocked by what she had just been told; an artificial robotic eye, that was crazy. There's no way someone would have one of those without everyone knowing. "How come there's not more people with those if it works so well?" Kate asked in stunned awe.

"It's experimental technology and a secret for some other time" Aaron said with a wink from his right eye, something he never usually did. "You've poked yourself in the eye before, haven't you, you know that it sort of feels all gooey and shit, yeah?" He asked, getting a confirming nod from Kate.

"Yeah, at it's not the nicest feeling in the world" Kate added with her own little smile.

"Hold your finger out and touch my eye" Aaron began "It won't hurt, I promise...how could it...anyway, go on"

Kate nervously held her left hand up with her index finger extended. Aaron took hold of her wrist and slowly guided her hand closer to his eye. Kate winced at the thought; everything inside her was telling her to pull away, not to drive her finger into Aaron's eye. She closed her eyes and expected to feel something strange, something weird but that wasn't the case.

The end of her finger felt something cold, something metallic and something that defiantly wasn't organic. As she opened her eyes, she was met with Aaron's eye not even flinching as her finger rested against it. He was telling the truth.

What was confusing for Kate was the fact that it looked exactly the same as a normal eye. It was white, black and Blue in all the right places and yet it was all a charade. She had to ask how could man and machine exist in such a way, it was unnatural. Everything that Kate had experienced in life, her religious upbringing was telling her to shun this abomination but all she could do was hug him.

Aaron was confused as to why Kate was hugging him but welcomed it. The warmth of her body made a change from the cold sting of the rain he'd been in. Kate retreated from the hug and looked at Aaron with her loving eyes; she appreciated him opening up to her like this, it made her feel useful and not completely as useless as she had been feeling over the past month.

"Would you mind telling me where those bruises and marks came from?" Kate hesitantly asked as she sat down on the floor opposite Aaron.

Aaron took a deep breath and closed his eyes; this was a big secret, not the biggest but still up there. Aaron exhaled slowly before opening his eyes, he'd decided to let Kate know the bare bones of it, she deserved that much at least.

"I fight, like illegal underground brawls" Aaron regretfully admitted. "I've been doing it for a while now, not long, just a couple of months"

"What?!" Kate exclaimed; the news was extremely shocking and was probably the last thing she'd have expected. Someone as nice and caring as Aaron beating people up for fun wasn't something she could envision. It did explain how he was able to beat those muggers earlier that night however.

"Yeah, that's what I'd have said" Aaron replied as he looked away. He was unable to look Kate in the eye; her sweet, innocent face wouldn't let him. "Don't worry; it's only between the ages of sixteen to eighteen so it's nothing I can't handle...as if that makes it any better. It started off as a way to make a little extra cash but it became more than that. I saw it as life itself; life isn't easy and won't be a breeze. You have to prepare for life, push yourself to take the necessary steps to prepare for the obstacle ahead. For me the fight is life and the training is the preparation"

Kate understood where Aaron was coming from; she saw the method behind his madness but wished there was another way than hurting himself and other people. It just seemed wrong, it seemed like it wasn't Aaron. She never understood why people hurt each other.

"Thank you for talking to me, I know this hasn't been easy for you and I appreciate you telling me of all people" Kate said as so took a-hold of Aaron's hands again, his skin felt cold, almost like he was dead.

"Who else would I tell if not you? Kate, you're like the person I'm the closest with right now. I'd rather spend two seconds talking with you than two hours with anyone else"

Aaron's words made Kate smile, like he always does. She looked at the young boy in front of her who smiled his charismatic smile back at her. She could feel his skin heating up as he spoke about her but took no notice of it.

"You always know what to say, don't you?!" Kate joked as Aaron stood up, gently removing his hands from her grasp.

"What can I say, I must be magic. Now if you don't mind, I'm fucking shattered and wanna lie down and since you won't let me go back to my room, I'll take this glorious looking couch" Aaron made his way to the couch and lied down on it.

He was far too chivalrous to take Kate's own bed so he chose the next best thing. The couch offered steady comfort and Aaron couldn't complain. After the night he'd had, he'd be able to sleep on thumbtacks right about now. Kate's couch felt like a bed fit for a king and Aaron would be able to drift soundly to sleep on it.

Kate did feel somewhat guilty for making Aaron sleep anywhere other than her bed. She felt as if he thought he was any less than her which defiantly wasn't the case. What else could she do?! She couldn't offer him to share her bed with her; that was so unthinkable and such a taboo thing to do. They weren't together or in any form of union so no matter how guilty Kate felt, she knew this was the right thing. Then again, after the Vortex club party, she was already going to hell in the eyes of her family so how much worse could it be?!

As she contemplated the how's and what if's, she ended up floating off to sleep without realising. She was home, she was safe and she owed it all the man sleeping on her couch, wearing her pyjamas.

* * *

Wednesday morning was hell for Nathan Prescott; he sat in his Advanced Physics class without any idea what was going on. He was confused and struggled almost every day since the start of the year. He had no idea why he took physics, he could never get his head around it and all the numbers and symbols never made any sense. The equations may as well have been in gibberish, he would never understand them.

Mrs Grant was going around handing out everyone's test papers with their results on the front page. Nathan couldn't care less; he'd probably fucked it up as usual and had no interest in finding out.

When the paper was placed in front of him, he was met with exactly what he thought he'd see: In big red pen was the letter F inside a red circle with the numbers 28/75 written next to it. Nathan just rolled his eyes before resting his chin on the palms of his hands. He really couldn't care less and just wished for the final bell to go so he could ditch this joint.

"Ok, I presume some of you are happy with your test scores while the rest of you are a little disappointed. There will be another test on the 7th of November so I expect you all to study and prepare for it. The test will be on Atomic Physics so you have been warned"

Nathan just twirled a pencil around idly in his right hand; he just wanted to leave the class. He was probably more interested in reading the communist manifesto than his Physics classes and who could blame him. He was doing something that made no sense to him and always confused him at every turn.

The bell rang and everyone scrambled to leave the classroom as fast as possible. Nathan's dreams of escape were dashed when Mrs Grant spoke next:

"Brooke, could you and Mr Prescott stay behind please"

Nathan nearly punched his table in frustration; why was he being held back, he hadn't done anything and here he was, about to have his time wasted when he could be doing something more interesting and that he actually enjoyed.

He approached Mrs Grant's desk as he slung his bag on his bag and placed his hands in the pockets of his letterman jacket. His face still remained uninterested and he looked as if he was on medication due to the lack of expression in his facial features. He chewed his gum idly as Brooke began to speak:

"What can I do for you, Mrs Grant" she sounded way more interested than Nathan ever could.

"Well, Nathan here is failing this class and we've only been here for two months. If he doesn't pass the next modular test, I'm afraid he'll have to be kicked off the course" Mrs Grant said sincerely as she looked up at the two people in front of her.

"I'm standing right here ya know, talk to me, not about me" Nathan interjected; breaking the silence he'd been keeping all lesson.

"Well, what does this have to do with me?" Brooke politely asked as she pushed her glasses up her face.

"Brooke, you're my best student and if anyone can help Mr Prescott pass, it's you" Nathan's eyes widened as he heard Mrs Grant speak, he dreaded to know what was coming next. "I want you to tutor him and get him ready for the next test"

"What, you can't be serious? You're forcing me to spend more time on this bullshit outside of class? No way!" Nathan protested; he was suddenly more awake now.

"Mr Prescott, watch your mouth! I don't care who your father is, If you fail this test, you will fail this class before the New Year" Mrs Grant would not back down and Nathan knew it, she was one tenacious woman.

"Whatever" Nathan said as he waved his hand in dismissal and stormed out. He couldn't believe that just happened, as if he had to do more of the subject he detested.

As Nathan hurried along the corridor, Brooke caught upto him and walked alongside the pissed off rich boy.

"Look, I don't like this either, trust me" She was clearly annoyed by the pre-determined arrangement just as much as he was. "If it was upto me, I'd let your rich ass fail but Mrs Grant said this would affect my G.P.A if I left your ass out to dry so-hey-would you just stop walking!" Brooke called out as she placed her left hand on Nathan's right shoulder, causing him to stop and turn towards her.

"Don't touch me you freak" Nathan exclaimed shaking her hand off in disgust.

"Hey, I'd be a little nicer seeing as I'm the only one that's standing between you and failing Physics" Brooke replied, she was clearly more annoyed with Nathan that she'd originally been.

"Fine...talk" Nathan said in a slightly less hostile tone as he rubbed his forehead with his left hand. He'd had enough of Physics to last him a lifetime.

"Look, Atomic Physics isn't that hard so you should fare a lot better here than say quantum mechanics. If you wanna do this, come to my dorm room at like five tonight and I'll try and help you. If you don't show up, I'm gonna take that as a sign that you don't wanna bother. The decision is yours Nathan, see ya later, maybe" Brooke finished and walked off. The conversation hadn't exactly been pleasant and now she probably would have to spend a few hours a week helping mister entitled stay on his Physics course. Nevertheless, Brooke let out a sigh and headed for the fresh air of the outside.

Nathan just sulked as he walked to his locker; he had a choice to make and he'd have to make it soon. Spend time with some freak he didn't know doing a subject her didn't like or fail Advanced Physics for the entire year. He had until five in the evening to decide what he wanted to do.

This would be a no brainer for some but Nathan was stubborn and he really hated Physics something terrible. _Why the fuck did this have to go and happen!_ He thought as he slammed his locker shut. He had so much to worry about and now with this added on top, he really didn't know how to cope. He was alone and he hated it; Nathan had no one who really _got_ him.

Victoria understood, roughly, what it was like but apart from that, there was no one there to listen to him when he needed it, no one there for him to explain why he's the way he is. He could feel his eyes watering up and realised he needed to get out of sight. This always happened whenever he thought about how lonely he was.

Nathan made a B-line for the boy's restroom and hid inside the end stall, locking the door as he closed it behind him. He sat up on the seat as he brought his legs up under his chin before slowly rocking back and forth. He could see it all: His father disowning him because he failed physics, being known as _The Failure_ his father always made him out to be, becoming a laughing stock that he was so afraid of being. Nathan closed his eyes and let the tears roll down his cheeks.

He made no noise as he bottled it all up inside like he had done so many times before, he was used to it by now. _I just want someone to be there for me_ he thought as he held his legs closer, teardrops now staining his pants and crashing onto his shoes. _No one understands, they just think I'm..._ Nathan trailed off as more tears fell from his eyes. He didn't know where to go from here.

* * *

Max sat up in her bed after her morning shower; she'd found out that her English lessons were cancelled until the foreseeable future due to her teacher needing to take medical leave. Rumours were already circling that she was suffering with depression and that she had a breakdown. Needless to say, no morning English meant no anything for Max apart from sleep.

It was nearing half ten when Max decided she'd finally get up and after she had showered and dried herself off, she was already a good while into eleven o'clock.

Max's mind was still full of thoughts of Chloe and what happened between them at her house party. She was so confused and conflicted; the fact that it was Chloe didn't help either. Chloe was supposed to make things easier but how is deciding your feelings for someone easy.

Max had never thought of Chloe as more than...Chloe. Her best friend for more than twelve years and now she was thinking about them being more than friends and it sucked. This wasn't how it was supposed to be; she and Chloe were supposed to be friends, nothing more. Life was so complicated and Max wondered why she was stuck with shitty choices like this.

She had no idea how to feel about Chloe and didn't want to make a premature choice and lead her down the wrong path. Max had to look at how she felt whenever she was with Chloe, how Chloe made her feel and where she could see herself and Chloe doing things only lovers do. Max rubbed at her temples as she thought long and hard about it but she realised it wasn't something she'd be able to decide with thought alone.

The conclusion was that Max would need to spend time with Chloe, doing things as friends and as...something more. It wasn't the outcome Max would have liked but it was the one she was stuck with and she just didn't want to hurt Chloe at all. Max fell back and sunk into her bed as she placed her pillow over her face and let out a muffled scream. _Why is everything so difficult_? She thought from her position under her pillow.

Max realised that after she was finished with her lessons today, she'd let Aaron know of her choices and see what he thought of her decision to go and see Chloe after school. This wasn't what Max wanted to do but what she had to do. She wished she had an endless supply of time, a way of starting over again if she made a mistake. She realised this wasn't a video game or some shitty story, this was life. Life was never that simple and easy as Max had come to realise.

Things were finally in motion for a lot of people, they just didn't realise that the future of their lives would be starting today...

 _ **A/N:-Ok, yeah, I know. This chapter is empty as fuck and I apologise. I originally planned to have this chapter and chapter twelve be one big one but decided by splitting it down the middle, I'd have the start to problems/obstacles in this chapter and have the resolution to all the angsty shit in chapter twelve.**_

 _ **I'll address the elephant in the room right now. Aaron's eye. I'm taking one hell of a leap here and hope you guys don't bite my head off for it. Aaron's eye is actually a key element in his back-story as well as his biggest secret. I won't spoil it but it relates to his family. Take it on the chin and when the time comes, it'll pay off, I promise you. But in the meantime, let me know what you thought of some of the secrets he's spilled and see if you can guess of what's to come. I wanna know how you thought I handled it and if you enjoyed it.**_

 _ **As you can see, the cracks are starting to show in his flawless personality. Whenever he's around Kate, the wall breaks down and she can see the man under the armour, what he's like on the inside. He's still 'Cool Aaron' to everyone else but around Kate, he's more than that. Where will I go from here? There's only one way to find out.**_

 _ **I also what to know what you all thought of the small pilot into the Nathan Prescott plotline that's gonna be taking a bigger role. He'll have his own part to play in the story and I wanna know what you thought of what you've read so far. Be honest, I just wanna know how to improve it because I think you'll like where it goes.**_

 _ **Ah, Max and Chloe, Pricefield. The biggest ship in recent gaming history. I'll leave it to you to figure out where I'm going with it...**_

 _ **You don't wanna miss the next two chapters because they're gonna be spicy, I can tell you now. All I can say is it's not gonna go in the direction you think it will (You don't have to hate me, I hate myself)**_


	12. Chapter 12-Revelations

Chapter 12-Revelations

 _ **A/N:-So before anything, I just need to say that Life is Strange before the storm was fucking sick! I played it the second it released (Pre Ordered download cus I'm cool) and I am just in awe of how good of a game it was. This ain't no review so don't expect one, I'm just saying expect stories with influence from it in the future. Shout out to Steph and Mikey for being my favourite characters, the scenes with them were so fucking cool and I enjoyed them a shit load.**_

 _ **So, now that's out of the way, I present chapter twelve. Enjoy.**_

Brooke sat at her desk as she wrote out her homework for the week. The paper she was currently doing was on red shift and she had already written three full A4 pages and still wasn't done. Her right hand was supporting her head as her left hand scrawled across the page, writing down everything she needed to include. The music from her headphones offered comfort as she sat there, bored out of her mind.

The only light that was present was the one that was illuminating from her computer screen. The blinds were closed and all other forms of light was absent from her room. Brooke liked working in the dark; she was unable to be distracted due to the fact she couldn't see anything that would distract her. Music sometimes offered its own distraction, that's why Brooke had her headphones around her neck rather than on her head.

She let out a loud sigh as she stopped her writing and started to stretch the muscles in her left wrist. She was midway through her fourth page and was slowly losing the will to carry on. The paper didn't have to be in until Friday but Brooke wanted it done and out of the way so she had time to herself. She looked at her watch; ten past five. She had been there for almost an hour and couldn't wait to finish this bloody paper.

 _I guess mister angry isn't coming; good, I don't need that kind of extra baggage getting in my way. I've got too much to focus on as it is and I don't have enough time to help that spoilt little brat sort himself out._ Brooke thought as she sat up and stretched her neck.

Technology was her forte, not science. She preferred all things mechanical and would choose them over beakers and powder any day. She wanted to limit how much science she did so she'd have more time for the more technical side of things and babysitting Nathan Prescott wouldn't help that.

The silent hum of her computer screen and ambient background noise from her headphones were the only sounds present in Brooke's room. She was fully engulfed in her studies even though she really was bored of them at this point. She just prayed for a distraction to present itself so she'd have an excuse to put her pen down.

As if by magic, there was a slow but sturdy knock on her dorm room door. She slowly took her headphones off from around her neck and placed them down on her desk before turning to face the door. "It's open" She called out before dropping her pen on her notepad.

Standing in the doorway was none other than Nathan Prescott, the last person she'd expected to see. He was stood there with his bag on his back and a rather glum look on his face. He almost looked sad, as if he was upset about something.

The light from the corridor brightened up Brooke's dorm room for the first time today. She had to cover her eyes with her left arm so the sudden burst didn't fuck her vision up. She was really shocked to see Nathan took up her offer...slightly pissed too because now she'd have to spend more time on Physics.

"Sorry I'm late, I had shit to do" Nathan stated as he entered Brooke's room, he dropped his bag by her couch, just on the right side of her desk.

"It's cool Nathan, whatever. Now grab that chair and pay attention, we got a lot of shit to cover" Brooke replied with almost no emotion. "I just wanna start off by saying that you can cut the rich shitty attitude. Whatever is happening in your life outside of this room is to stay there. I'm just here to tutor you with Physics, that's it so cut the crap"

Nathan was shocked and didn't know what to say; Brooke seemed to not care about anything and her emotionless delivery of both sentences made Nathan think whether or not she'd care about anyone. _This is gonna be fun_ Nathan thought as he pulled his notebook out of his bag.

"I uh, thanks...y'know...for helping me" Nathan said as he looked down at his empty notepad.

"No problem..." Brooke trailed off; she'd never seen Nathan so...quiet or anything other than hostile. "First off, it gets hot in here, I have the windows closed and the heating turned up so feel free to take your jacket off or whatever if you feel warm. If I'm telling you something, I suggest you right it down and go and learn it cus I wouldn't say it if it wasn't important. Don't talk when I am and if you have a question, wait for me to finish before you ask it"

Brooke was no-nonsense and Nathan respected that. He was glad to have someone teach him that would be committed and not waste his time. He didn't like the fact he had to spend time with some loser and that he had to do more physics but he'd rather this than the alternative that he hadn't been able to stop thinking about all day.

The two continued to work in silence all night; Nathan actually kept his mouth shut and listened to what Brooke had to say. Nathan hated the idea of doing additional Science work but knew that he had to do it. This evening had been gruelling but he knew that it was only the beginning.

* * *

 **Friday, the same week.**

The rest of the week passed without anything worth noting; Friday had rolled around and everyone was tired from the long week that they had endured at Blackwell.

Aaron grunted as he caught the football that was crashing towards him before throwing it back with equal force. Zach had to jump to the side to catch it as it propelled through the air towards him.

"Good throw man, you have a good arm on you" He called over to Aaron who composed himself for the next catch.

"Thanks, you're not so good yourself, it's almost like you're on the football team (!)" Aaron joked as Zach threw the ball again.

Zach chuckled as the ball left his grasp: "You're a funny guy Aaron, that's what I like about you. Yo dude, you should totally try out for the football team! Me and Logan could have a word with Coach and you'd be in"

"I don't know man, Varsity football isn't something I see myself doing. Besides, don't you already have a line-up sorted?" Aaron asked as he hurled the ball back at Zach.

"Well yeah but with that throw of yours and how long you can run for, you'd make the main team no problem dude" Zach replied as he placed the ball under his arm and began walking closer to Aaron.

Aaron had thought about football a few times but never followed through with it. True he enjoyed the game but didn't really want to do it full time. His nightly activities certainly were a benefit and people, like Zach for example, had already taken notice of his resilient stamina and physical power.

"I don't think I'm built enough for football bro, I'm far too skinny"

"Don't be crazy, we'll build the weight on over time. At least consider it though? You'll be just what we need to win the season" Zach really liked Aaron (so did most people) and enjoyed playing sport with him. Naturally, you'd want someone like that on your team.

"Ok man, I'll think about it and get back to you. I gotta go to that extracurricular shit they're making everyone do so I'll catch you later" Aaron said as he fist bumped Zach and made his way to the main building.

"If you were playing football, you wouldn't have to do that weeb shit!" Zach called out, getting Aaron to smile in response. "Logan, get up man; you better not lose the ball again" Aaron heard Zach say as he made his way out if the boys dorm rooms and towards the main concourse.

As the autumn season was in full swing, Blackwell's senior management had decided that everyone should undergo some form of extracurricular activity. Aaron just signed the first form he saw and still had only found out what he was doing yesterday. _If all of this goes to shit, I guess I could do football_ Aaron thought as he walked across the grass and made his way to the main doors of Blackwell.

Mr Keaton's Drama class was not something Aaron saw himself doing but he figured it would be a laugh. He was anxious to find out the basic things like who would be in the class, what play they'd be doing and if he could actually act at all.

As Aaron entered the class, he looked at who he would be working alongside every Friday afternoon and recognised a few. Dana and Hayden conversed idly up on the makeshift stage, Luke was lurking by Mr Keaton's desk with his head hidden amidst the screen of his phone, Victoria was yapping on while Taylor listened desperately over by the stage props and Max who emerged from the dressing room.

Aaron knew this wouldn't be the whole class but at the same time, plays didn't need very big casts. It would mostly be the crew side of things they'd need extra people for. He was glad he knew such a large number of people so he couldn't complain.

"Ok, all of you gather 'round" Mr Keaton announced as he entered the room and made a B line for his desk. "I know not all of you want to be here but all I ask for is your co-operation. You do your bit for this play and I'll see to it that you get everything you'll need for a scholarship" Everyone muttered something in agreement before Mr Keaton opened his folder. "Due to the lack of success from the previous plays over the last two years, we will be reverting back to Shakespeare in hope we can create the same amount of success we had with the Tempest"

"It just sucks Rachel won't be here; we'd really need her for this one" Hayden spoke up from his position in the crown as he lowered his head.

Several people there who knew how well Rachel could act would agree with Hayden to no end. She could really make a scene feel real. The entire room fell silent in a sombre moment of acknowledgement.

"Yes, it's a shame our angel won't be here…but nevertheless, we still have a vital role to play here at Blackwell"

"What will we be doing this year, Mr Keaton? I hope it's Romeo and Juliet" Victoria called out in her usual ass licking tone.

"While an excellent piece in its own right, I have decided we will be perusing the lines of revenge alongside the Prince of Denmark himself" Mr Keaton replied as he scanned the new batch of actors that stood before him.

"A Prince is coming to see the show?" Taylor asked, having an obvious blonde moment.

"He means Hamlet, the play we're doing is Hamlet" Aaron chimed in, correcting her.

"Thank you Mister Heartfield, yes-we will be doing Hamlet for this year's Christmas production. Today you will act out scenes and scenario's that I have prepared so I can get a feel of how you perform and what role to cast you in. I want you to then decide who you would like to audition for and you'll do that for me during the next lesson. A list of characters will be placed out by the end of the lesson of the parts that are available. Now if there are no more questions, I'd like for us to get started" Mr Keaton finished as he clapped his hands together.

"Sorry I'm late" Nathan Prescott grunted as he hurried through the door to the classroom. Had some business to do" the rest of the class was oblivious to what said business was and Nathan wanted it so stay that way. He couldn't comprehend how badly he wanted to keep the fact he was getting tutored in physics a secret.

"Not a problem Mister Prescott, now if you'll join the rest of the class, we can finally begin" Mr Keaton replied as he closed the door behind Nathan.

The hour dragged on as Mr Keaton had them doing engaging exercises that was meant to make them more relaxed and trusting of each other when all it really did was make them feel uncomfortable. The group was fairly shy as none of them wanted to make a fool of themselves in front of the rest of their year, especially with people like Victoria present who would relish in the fact of making someone's life hell.

Aaron was not one of those people; as he didn't give a shit what people thought of him, he just tackled the activities head on and didn't bat an eye when he was asked to do something. Of course he played it off in a way that made everyone seem like he didn't care about what he was doing, only adding to how cool everyone thought he was.

He was a living juxtaposition and that was probably why he intrigued most people. All eyes were on him whenever he carried out an activity for the simple fact that he was the only one who actually did it. People like Dana and Hayden who had experience in the drama department and Victoria who wanted to kiss as much ass as possible were able to do it without a care in the world due to how used to it they were but the fact that it was Aaron's first time, drew the question of why wasn't he shy like everyone else.

Certain people like Max knew that Aaron was not a shy person and understood almost immediately why he was able to just flow with it. She wished she could be that oblivious. She wished she wasn't so afraid of everything she did and wished she could just say 'fuck it' and do something because she wanted to and not be held back by thinking about what other people would say.

It was thanks to this conundrum that she thought about Chloe; the girl she'd been avoiding. How does one actively avoid their best friend for almost a week?! Max needed to find the answer fast even though this was something you couldn't rush. She realised this would be her 'fuck it' moment

After the hour of the autumn term's first drama lesson finished, everyone was anxious to see what part they would be going for.

"Ok, here's the list of roles" Mr Keaton said as he hung it up on the back of the door. "Decide carefully and next week you will audition for them on Monday's lesson"

As everyone made their way out of the class, Aaron approached Max and nudged her playfully on the shoulder, gaining her attention. Max smiled as she saw Aaron and pulled her headphones out to engage in conversation with him.

"Hey Aaron, what's up?" Max asked with a smile.

"I was just curious, you volunteered for Drama?" Aaron called back through a small laugh. "I just didn't take you for an open kinda girl"

"What's that supposed to mean?" the smile on Max's face was now replaced with a look of confusion.

"Well, y'know, you're sort of an introvert and I just didn't figure this would be your thing is all" Aaron replied as the two continued to walk down the corridor.

"Well sorry we can't all be mister doesn't give a shit" Max said, causing Aaron's mouth to hang in an open smile. "Just because no one can hate what you do, doesn't mean the rest of us are immune to it"

The two loved bantering with each other, it really made them smile.

"So I was thinking, did you wanna do some music later? I haven't got any homework or anything I need to do" Aaron stated as he placed his hands into his jacket pocket.

"Oh, I uh, I'd love to Aaron but I'm gonna speak to Chloe later, I think I'm ready" Max responded, causing her and Aaron to stop walking.

"Say no more, I completely understand. I hope this all works out for you Max and if it doesn't, you know where I am and we can have a big cry and watch really shitty movies"

Max smiled, she knew she could always count on Aaron and despite knowing him for like a month, she already thought he was the best type of person she could meet.

"I'll let you know how it goes later and we could, I don't know, work on something for our auditions maybe?" Max suggested.

"That sounds great, Max; I'll look forward to it"

The two went their separate ways as their conversation came to an end. Aaron reckoned he could maybe play some more football or even see what Warren was doing, his day was nowhere near over, he just needed to figure out how to fill it.

Max knew what she was going to do; she'd call Chloe and tell her to meet her at her dorm room and they'd talk it out. She knew how she felt about Chloe and decided not to hide and shy away from anything but rather to go out and do something about it. _Looks like spending time with Aaron's rubbing off_ she thought with a smile as she pulled out her phone to message her blue haired friend.

* * *

Victoria was at under a tree with Taylor and Courtney, Hayden and Nathan as they discussed the drama lesson they just had. Despite Courtney not even being part of the class, she goes wherever Victoria goes so she had to endure the budding thespians talk about all things theatrical for however long they'd feel like.

"I honestly didn't expect Aaron to be there" Hayden said as he rolled a joint from his position in front of the tree. He was using the log as a comforting rest for his back as he ruffled the papers in between his fingers.

"I know right, I figured he'd have said something about it" Taylor imputed as she looked up from her phone. "Then again, he's like that, isn't he-just keeps himself to himself, and surprises you when you least expect it. That's kinda sexy"

"It doesn't matter if he's here or not because we're gonna outshine him" Victoria spat in an unusually hostile tone. "He has no experience and Mr Keaton knows what to expect from us and just how good we are. Aaron probably chose this because he sucks at everything else"

"I don't know Vic, Logan told me that him and Zach are trying to get him to join the football team" Courtney chimed in.

"Yeah, and rumour has it he can sing really well too" Hayden started.

Victoria was frustrated by how she wasn't the talk of everyone. It bothered her how she thought Aaron was just better than her. The only other person who had this effect on her was Rachel Amber and since she's been missing, she figured there would be no competition but Aaron keeps making her question herself.

"What do you think of our resident celebrity, Nathan?" Victoria asked.

Nathan had been sitting down in between her and Hayden, idly looking at the floor and passively listening to the conversations going on around him. He couldn't stop thinking about all the extra work he'd been putting into his physics lessons and if anyone had found out. He'd had the sessions with Brooke once a day for the past few days and all he could think about would be the embarrassment if anyone found out.

"I don't really know the guy, V; I've met him like twice and he seems alright. Why do you hate him so much?" Nathan said, speaking for the first time since the group sat down.

"Uh, I don't; I just don't like how everyone seems to idolise him all the time" all eyes were on her so she had to think of something to change the subject. "Could you believe Max Caulfield is there though?" _Nice save Vickie_

"Oh my God, I know! Little miss shy and quiet must finally be coming out of her shell" Taylor commented as she started laughing at her own comment.

"She's probably gonna get a background part with like no lines" Courtney added.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah-we can talk about all this later but as of right now, I'm gonna go smoke up. You guys are more than welcome to come or you can stay here and carry on bitching" Hayden commented as he stood up.

The group followed but Nathan's mind was occupied with his secret lessons which he'd have to go to later this evening and the paranoia from the weed wouldn't help. Victoria was worried about how she could be losing the throne she'd so desperately wanted to steal from Rachel Amber. She couldn't help but feel the usurped throne she was currently sitting upon would slip from her grasp.

* * *

Max sat on her bed with her vision fixated on her legs and floor beneath her as she waited patiently for Chloe to arrive. She had made up her mind on how she felt about her best friend, what her feelings towards her really were and she just needed to put things right.

The seconds seemed like hours and the minutes seemed like years as Max waited and waited. Her room was silent; the only noise was whatever was being said outside her room whenever someone walked through the corridor. She knew she wouldn't back down now, she had to do this.

When the bluenette finally arrived, Max felt her heart in her throat. This was it. Chloe just stared at her with a blank expression. She looked as if she hadn't been sleeping well this past week due to the strain on her facial expression. Max hated seeing her friend like that so without waiting; she stood up and decided to talk.

"Look Chloe, I needed time to think, to sort my head out and decide what I really want. You've waited long enough and I'm ready. I've loved you all these years as a friend but I think...I could maybe...love you as something more"

Chloe's face seemed more awake when she heard what Max said. It was the response she wanted but didn't think she would hear. Chloe was stunned and struggled to stay standing.

"Wow Max, I don't know what to say. I honestly thought I fucked things up with us for good there"

"No Chloe, you didn't; I just needed to make sure this is what I wanted and it is. I'm sorry if I hurt you"

"Shut up you dork" Chloe said as she walked across the room and hugged Max. "I've missed you"

"I've missed you too, not seeing you for a week really killed me" Max replied as she buried her face into her taller friends shoulder.

The two just stood there in silent embrace, holding onto each other for dear life. Time seemed to stop around them as they held onto each other.

"I love you Max" Chloe uttered as a lone tear fell down her left cheek.

"I love you too Chloe, I always have"

Chloe never thought she'd ever hear Max say those words but now she head them, she couldn't help but feel something inside her as she hugged Max even tighter. The two were finally together.

 _ **A/N:-ok, I make no excuse for the shit upload. I went on holiday at the start of September and when I came back had no inspiration. Add a broken laptop screen on top of that and you have a very shit author and I do apologise. The quality in this chapter was not what I had hoped for but felt like I needed to get it out as soon as possible. Please Review, follow etc, etc-you know the score by now. The more love I have for this story, the more time I can put into it and I really wanna upload more regularly.**_

 _ **If you ever want to recommend any OC's for me to use, feel free to drop me a PM and we can certainly discuss it! That's not limited to this fic, if you have any ideas for OC's in any of my current ones or future ones, don't be afraid to let me know. Catch you all in a bit.**_


	13. Chapter 13-Anything Anything

Chapter 13:-Anything?...Anything

"I know dad, I know and yes I should have called more" Aaron said into the white iPhone 5 that was rested against his cheek. "Yeah, everything is going great, I'm loving it. I know, defiantly, I will. What about before Christmas? Think we can do that? Ok dad, great, I'll talk to you soon. I love you too, bye"

Aaron crashed down on his bed with a sigh. This was the third time he'd spoken to his father since starting Blackwell and he felt terrible about it. He loved his dad so much but had just forgotten to call. Their relationship was closer than most-the two had endured a lot of emotional pain and they had relied on each other to get through it.

Aaron had relied on his dad for most of his life and now he was finally becoming more independent-still, he would love to go back for a visit soon. _Just one more thing on my list_ Aaron thought as he scrolled through Facebook from his horizontal position on his bed. The question of joining Varsity football was still clear in his head. He had no idea if that was something he'd want to pursue-sure he liked playing it recreationally but he didn't know if he could be bothered to play games on the regular.

Aaron just thought of himself as too skinny; sure he had the muscles but the build was something he was lacking. This train of thought led him to the fight he would be taking part in tonight. He knew the same thing for this fight that he knew for the others-nothing. All he knew was he'd turn up, have loads of people bet money on him, fight someone random and win. All Aaron could do was close his eyes and try not to think about it.

Sometimes they were fun, great ways to blow off steam and get all the built up stress out. Other times, Aaron was just not interested and didn't want to bother. Today was one of those days. Hell, he'd just come from a drama class. He had to ask how he always found himself stuck with a vast number of options to choose from, yet he never has any answers.

Reluctantly, Aaron dragged himself off his bed and sat down at his desk. He opened up his laptop and decided he was going to work on his autumn portfolio. He opened his folder and was met with pictures of Kate on his screen. He couldn't help but get lost looking at her. He was really smitten with her, yet too scared to do anything about it. For the first time in his life, he was scared to make a decision.

Aaron let out a sigh as he stared endlessly at the photos of the beautiful girl on his screen. _She must think I like her, I spend every chance I can tryna do something with her._ He though as he scrolled through the photos. _Fuuuuck, why am I such a loser?!_ He asked no one in particular before resting his face in his palms.

The quiet ambience of his dorm room rang out, making everything seem like it wasn't moving at all. Aaron wanted to move, do something-feel active before going to where he needed to be when the sun goes down. Max and Chloe were sorting out what they needed to do, he didn't wanna pester Kate any more than he already had so that left Zack, Logan and the boys or Warren, Brooke and all of those guys.

Aaron had spent most of the day with Zack earlier but didn't wanna continue the conversation over playing varsity football. Chilling with Warren seemed like the better choice. Aaron picked his phone up off of the desk and sent his friend a message.

 _Hey dude, anything going on with the guys?_

 _Hey man, uh, I don't think so, Brooke said she was busy with...something, Stella has a project she needs to work on and I haven't heard from Luke._ Warren send back almost immediately.

That decided Aaron's night for him. Jock central with your resident meatheads. He couldn't complain, they were tidy guys and he enjoyed their company. Aaron couldn't help taking pride whenever he convinced them to leave people alone and not be asswipes to anyone.

Brooke Typed furiously at her computer while Nathan sat beside her, taking notes on his laptop. They had been getting together most days of the week and Nathan had considered himself to be making progress. Brooke's attitude had become a lot more relaxed; she was less hostile to Nathan, but still resented having to do additional Physics.

The room was dead quiet; the only sound coming from the hum of their machines and the faint noise from Brooke's headphones that were once again around her neck. Nathan liked working in these conditions, they made him feel calm and the quiet did wonders to his concentration. The humming reminded him of the Whale sounds he would listen to as an aid to go to sleep in the nights.

Brooke's face was fixed in the resting bitch emotion as she printed out another piece of paper. She leaned over to her left, crossing in front of Nathan as she removed the inky paper from the printer.

"Here, this should help you on Atomic theory and red shift" Brooke said dryly as she handed Nathan the paper without looking at him.

"Thanks, I did an essay on the gravitational pull of the atmosphere and…I'd like you to take a look at it, tell me how I did?" Nathan replied as he placed the paper into a folder.

Brooke was shocked at what she had heard. She slowly turned away from the computer screen and looked at an expressionless Nathan to her left. "You did what?" she asked.

"An essay…" Nathan replied as he looked at the work he had done. He slowly extended his hand to pass it over to Brooke.

"I didn't even ask you to do one" Brooke was confused as she scanned over the work in front of her.

"Well I wanted to make sure I was actually learning shit so if you could read over it and tell me how I did, I'd appreciate it" Nathan said, less hostile than you'd expect.

"Sure, I'll look over it now if you want, see if you're making progress. If you're not learning, these sessions are pointless" Brooke replied as she started scanning the paper.

"Well…not totally pointless…" there was a shyness in Nathan's voice that Brooke had never heard before. Brooke wasn't sure what he meant but she froze as pretended she didn't hear it. She did, however, go red in the cheeks.

The sun had set and Friday was moving on. The students of Blackwell have stopped working but for Marcus, his work is just beginning. Angrily, he paced back and forth just outside of Blackwell's common grounds before discarding his fourth cigarette butt of the past hour. He waited for any sign of his target but nothing appeared and he was getting stressed out.

Jake was keeping a look-out; making sure no one crept up on them to disturb their business. He was almost as fed up as Marcus but he had orders to follow and knew Marcus would bite his head off if he said anything.

The cold air of the night blew as the two men in sleeveless red jackets waited for Aaron Heartfield. They had done this thing time and time again but did not expect their next mission to take them back to Blackwell so soon. It seems fate just held the best candidates here.

"Has he showed yet?" Jake asked as he scanned the grounds.

"No, for the ninth time, he's not here" Marcus replied. He sounded agitated.

"Why can't we just go in there and drag the bastard out?"

"Because Alpha gave us orders!" Marcus barked. "She told us to observe for now and that's what we'll do. You want to go against her orders then I might as well kill you know and save her the words!"

Jake shrunk into himself as Marcus stared him down. He was afraid of him, hell everyone was, that's why he was so damn effective at his job.

"How long will that take?! We know nothing about this kid and it seems we get less and less info each time we come up here" Jake protested as he took a swig of a black water bottle.

"This is how we operate, you've done it for years so stop your fucking whining before I shove your arm down your throat" Marcus huffed as he lit up another cigarette. "Fucking long haired wanker" he muttered as his lips held the cancer stick between them.

Jake pretended not to hear him as he knew crossing Marcus was a very bad decision. If anyone would be able to get this kid properly, it would be Marcus so the best thing to do would be to co-operate with him and make his life as easy as possible.

"There" Marcus called out. "Target is coming from the car park" he said as they ducked behind the wall.

Aaron was with a group of boys; Logan, Zach and a few of the other jocks as they were laughing and joking their way across campus.

"We need to get out of sight" Jake called as the two men made a dash for cover. Marcus had been spotted once and he wasn't gonna let it happen again.

"Where do you suppose he's been?" Jake asked as he rested his back against the wall.

"I don't know, but he hasn't been here" Marcus replied as he eyed Aaron head off to the boys dormitories

Nathan typed away as Brooke finished reading over his essay he had handed her twenty minutes prior. He started off resenting these sessions he'd have to attend but now he couldn't see himself doing anything else. It added something that was missing into his life, it gave him the chance to actually do something with his empty days.

Brooke had noticed he seemed more relaxed as their sessions went on. Nathan almost looked happy sometimes which would be a first from Brooke's perspective. She couldn't lie, she wasn't too thrilled about the whole ordeal but she did feel a sense of accomplishment as she was able to make Nathan's life a little better, well, it seemed so anyway.

"Damn Nathan, this is actually pretty good!" Brooke said, breaking the silence in the room. "I mean it needs some work with detail but you've got a lot of the key points down anyway at least"

"Thanks, glad to see I'm learning something" Nathan called up from behind his laptop.

"Tell you what, we'll work more on this now and fill in the gaps so this is even better. Then once this is done, we can move on, sound good?" Brooke asked as she took a swig from her coke can.

"Yeah, I'd like that" Nathan murmured with a slight smile.

Brooke exhaled with relief after she put her drink down: "I'm gonna go grab some air; it's getting late, you can head back if you want and we'll finish this tomorrow" She called as she walked through the door to her dorm.

Nathan was left alone in her room and for the first time, he felt confident enough to do the work without asking Brooke to make sure it was ok. He typed a few more sentences before looking up at her wall. It was filled with all sorts of nerdy posters that made him smile. They were so 'Brooke' that all he had to do was take a photo and caption it 'who lives here?' and everyone would know the answer.

He noticed her brush on the couch in front of the wall and picked it up. Her black hair with dyed strands were recognisable amongst the bristles as Nathan pulled one of them free. He knew what he was about to do was wrong but he couldn't help himself. He placed the strand of hair to his nose and inhaled Brooke's scent, sending a shiver down his spine in the silent, dark room. He let it fill his nostrils before moving it away and looking at it. Realising what he'd done, Nathan dropped it to the floor before picking up his bag and heading out the door.

Nathan hurried out of the girl's dormitory and across the grass with haste, he didn't wanna relive or explain what he had just done so thought it would be best to finish the study session for the night and come back with a clear head tomorrow. The wind blew faintly as he hurried through the gate and past the walls, only stopping to investigate the sound of voices he could hear just up the steps.

"C'mon, do it" Zach heckled as he crossed his arms.

"Leave me alone you hulking gorilla" Brooke spat back as she rolled her eyes.

"I don't wanna do the work so you do it for me" Zach's loud voice was unmistakable.

"Or what, Zachery, what are you possible gonna do?!" Brooke was fed up but at the same time concerned. Zach was stupid and that made him dangerous in the right capacity.

"Or-." He was cut off when Nathan spoke.

"What's going on here?" Nathan yelled as he approached the two, stopping just short of them.

"Nathan, tell this little slut to do my work for me, she'll probably do yours for you too bro" Zach seemed happy to Nathan, as if he'd have some backup on the matter. That wasn't the case.

Nathan wanted to defend Brooke but he didn't want to leak the possibility that he might be getting tutoring from her. He didn't know what to say so just said the first thing that came to his head.

"Why don't you go fuck yourself? Fucking big gay"

Zach was almost as shocked as Brooke with what Nathan said. Luckily for Nathan, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed so just looked at him with confusion before rubbing the back of his head and walking away.

"Why did you do that?" Brooke asked as she walked closer to Nathan.

"You're helping me, I'll help you" he replied, that same dryness ion his voice she was used to hearing had returned.

The two stared at each other but only one of them was confused. What did the future hold for them?!

Aaron dropped on his bed with a sigh. He was happy to have done something else on a Friday night instead of his usual fighting routine. It was a fresh change and he welcomed it warmly. He didn't realise hanging out with the jocks could have been that fun. They drove around, drank some beer and made general places look untidy. It wasn't something Aaron had done for a while but he was glad he was able to enjoy it.

The sun had set and his room was dark, only brightened by the light by the side of his bed. He realised he should call his dad again before the weekend was over, he had promised after all. The exiting weekend was ahead of him and he wondered what to do with it and who to grace with his company. He laughed to himself at the little joke he made before sitting up and finishing his beer off. As he was drinking, his phone pinged.

 _Hey, I'm outside and I need to talk to you xx_

Messages from Kate always made him smile. Without replying he jumped up, zipped up his trademark black jacket and headed downstairs. Leaving the dorm building, Aaron was greeted by the lovely smile of the girl he could never stop thinking about. The air was chilly but neither of them minded as they were in each other's company.

"Hey, how you doing?" Aaron asked with a smile before placing his hands in his pockets.

"Good, thank you" Kate replied as she smiled some more "Did you go to, y'know, that?" she asked shyly.

"Nah, I hung out with Zach and some of the guys; we went into town and hung out. You're right, I didn't have to it"

"You mean Zach as in the jock? Aaron why would you wanna bother with them, they're not nice people" Kate scolded but she was visibly disappointed.

"Come on, it's not like-." He was cut off

"And is that beer" Kate sniffed the air "Aaron have you been drinking?"

"Yeah we had a few cans, so what?" he replied innocently, Aaron couldn't see that he'd done anything wrong.

"Because I thought you were different, that's why! I get called horrible names day in and day out but none of that mattered because I was friends with the coolest boy at school. Someone who made me smile and make me feel worth a damn! If I don't have you by my side, what do I have Aaron?" Kate sounded distraught and Aaron could tell. She seemed to be on the verge of tears, something he hated seeing her pretty face do.

"Kate, I'm friends with everyone, I don't see what the big deal is?" he defended.

"The deal is those Vortex assholes are the ones who bully me the most! I thought you'd understand how I'd feel. I guess I was wrong" Kate stormed off without another word.

Aaron wanted to go after her but decided it was best to let her go. He marched back to his dorm, slamming the door behind him before kicking his wash basket over in frustration. He couldn't believe that Kate hated him now. The one person he didn't want to lose now didn't wanna bother with him. He blamed himself mostly as he knew he should have told her how he felt but didn't.

He was so angry he couldn't sit down; after pacing back and forth for a few seconds, he pulled his phone out and texted the last person he'd ever see himself messaging.

 _You up?_ Was all he'd allow them to have.

 _For you, always_ Victoria replied.

Aaron left his dorm and went where he didn't really want to go. He was so mad that it didn't matter, he had to vent his frustration somehow and since it was too late to go fighting, this was his only option. His great night just got one hell of a lot worse.

 _ **A/N:-Before you castrate me, Aaron is not gonna get back with Victoria! I know its potential spoilers but so many pf you hated her in my story so this is my way of saying sorry for such a shit upload time.**_

 _ **The reason for the slow upload is that I haven't been getting much feedback on this story. The same two people are the only ones (You hero's know who you are) and as much as I love you guys for doing it, I need other opinions to make sure everything is working. If you like it, say. Review or PM me and I'll make 1000x more time to this story because I love writing it but don't wanna waste my time.**_

 _ **If you are enjoying so far, I'd have no problem with you guys adding this to a community if you really want. The more people who read it the better. If you wanna see another chapter by next week, please, please, please let me know and I will deliver.**_

 _ **If any of you can guess the film where Nathan's quote to Zach comes from, please let me know, I'm curious to see if anyone knows. Apart from that, thank you and I'll see you for the resolution to all this bullshit. Awayyyyyyy**_


	14. Chapter 14-It's Still Raining

Chapter fourteen:-It's still Raining

Victoria's room was humid after the events that had occurred between her and Aaron. She lay cuddled under his left arm on her bad as he looked up at the ceiling. The atmosphere was less awkward than what you'd expect it to be between the two so at least that was something. Aaron was so upset at how things had played out between him and Kate during their last encounter that all he really felt was fatigue.

He hated himself but still didn't think Kate should have reacted the way she did. True, she had every right to be upset but he was expecting her to at least message him once she'd calmed down but his phone had received texts from everyone other than her. Aaron hated this but there was nothing he could do to change it right now. He had worked so hard to build their relationship up to what it had been and in one evening, he had set it back to further than when they had first met.

Victoria clung to Aaron as she traced along his toned torso with her right index finger. Her red painted nail glistened as the light hit it, causing it to have a shiny aesthetic. Her appearance didn't matter to Aaron, he only wanted the affection of one person.

"This doesn't mean anything, you know. I was just mad and I needed to vent" Aaron spoke, breaking the silence that hung in the air.

"Relax Aaron, I'm fully aware of that. You made it clear the last time you spoke to me" Victoria replied as she looked up at him.

"If you know that, why did you let me use you for sex just now?" Aaron asked, only now looking at Victoria instead of her ceiling.

"Honestly, you're really good at what you do" Her response caused Aaron to squint in confusion. He didn't think he was that good. "I also have…you know…needs and I figured I've already been with you so it's not exactly like I'm fucking anyone different. I'm just not ready to give myself to someone like that so soon"

Victoria was showing a side that Aaron never thought he would see. She was so vulnerable as she laid next to him with nothing to hide-as if her insecurities that plagued her didn't exist anymore. She wasn't the Queen Bitch of Blackwell, she was Victoria Chase, Photography student. Aaron was surprised that she felt comfortable enough around him to drop her shield, if anything, it made him feel bad for unintentionally giving her false hope.

Aaron rubbed her arm with his left hand, almost as if he was consoling her. Her skin wasn't as soft as people would have expected, it felt as if she had Goosebumps as Aaron traced his hand back and forth. He felt as if he should make her feel as safe as she thought she was.

"Could you at least stay here for the night? If this is the last time I get to have you, can you at least make it…memorable?" Victoria asked as she tuned over on her left side.

Aaron didn't know how to feel. He had no romantic feelings to her but figured he owed her this much. She saw him as something he wasn't and after using her for sex, it was the least he could do. Aaron followed Victoria's movements and placed his arms around her before pulling the blanket up to his chest. She felt so small and Vulnerable in his arms and that just made him feel worse. She needed someone who would not only love and appreciate her, but someone who would look after her.

It was in that moment that Aaron realised where her insecurities manifested from. She felt vulnerable, weak, and alone and decided to make herself feel strong, she would make others feel weak. To make herself not lonely, she would force others into submission or embarrass them, destroying their social life. She was such a bitch because she wanted someone to care about her. It was sad and filled Aaron's heart with remorse for her, he wished he could do something to help.

As the two fell asleep, Sunday Night shifted to Monday Morning.

* * *

Across the Hall, Max and Chloe sat cuddled up, watching the director's cut of Blade Runner. Chloe had taken it upon herself to stay the night and Max had no say in the matter. It didn't bother her as she loved spending as much time with her bluenette as possible. They two sat in darkness with only Max's laptop screen to illuminate the room and they wouldn't have it any other way.

Chloe cuddled Max and Max was cuddled by Chloe. Chloe liked to hold onto Max like this as she wanted to make sure she wasn't going to leave her again. It gave Chloe piece of mind that her girl would remain by her side until the end of time. Max liked the warm fuzzy feeling of appreciation she got whenever Chloe hugged her. She felt safe and protected; like she would never be hurt by anyone or anything. Their relationship was still in its infancy but they could tell that they were meant to be.

Chloe would often drop little kisses on Max's head, causing her to smile bigger and bigger every time. She loved how Chloe couldn't leave her alone, it really was love.

As the film ended, Max stood up to turn everything off.

"You plan on going home tonight or are you gonna take all the space in my bed again?" Max called over from her desk.

"Hey, you're the one who steals all the sheets. I'm left freezing my ass off over here" Chloe defended as she looked at her phone.

"Well I guess I might need to cuddle you instead. You get to be the little spoon tonight" Max said with a smile as she walked back over to the bed.

"Yes, little spoon rocks!" Chloe cheered as she took her jacket off.

"You wanna borrow anything to sleep in?" Max asked as she stood next to the bed.

"Nah, my shirt and underwear are good enough. Although, I might have to if you steal the sheets again" Chloe said as she took her socks off.

"You're such a dweeb" Max giggled as she leaned in and kissed Chloe.

"But I'm you dweeb" Chloe's words made Max melt. As Chloe wrapped her arms around her, they kissed again.

This time, the kiss was a lot more passionate and hotter. Max found herself on top of Chloe, who's hands were working there was all up and down Max's back. Chloe's right hand found its way to Max's hip and she started to grab it, causing Max to wriggle in excitement while her left hand grabbed the back of Max's head and played with her hair. All Max could do was kiss her girlfriend back as she has no experience in any form of bedroom skills.

Chloe's hands eventually found their way up to Max's bra strap and just before Chloe could undo it. Max went stiff and pulled herself off of Chloe. The two stared at each other for a second before Chloe said:

"You're not ready?"

Max couldn't help but feel embarrassed as she looked down at the blue haired beauty in front of her.

"Well, I've never done, well anything before and I…wanna take it slow…" She trailed off, causing Chloe to pull her in for a cuddle and kiss her forehead.

"If you're not ready then neither am I" Max couldn't help but smile at her response to the whole situation. She was so glad she was understanding.

Max had always been shy and Chloe knew this; she was willing to wait however long it took for Max to feel totally comfortable around her. They may be best friends but this was a new part of their relationship and Chloe didn't wanna fuck it up. Sex didn't matter to Chloe, as long as Max was happy, she would be happy.

Chloe just pulled Max into a cuddle before turning the lights out. Even though they had discussed it, Chloe found herself being the big spoon again tonight. Not that she minded in the slightest.

* * *

Monday morning rolled around sooner than anyone would have liked but another week at Blackwell had started. Max and Aaron met up just before Mr Jefferson's class and made their way there together. The portfolio projects had taken up a lot of their discussions as Max was curious to find out what Aaron would do. She liked his work and it was almost like she had seen it somewhere before but more than anything, she loved his ideas and how he was able to turn anything he shot into a work of art.

Aaron had realised Max had been reluctant to share any of her details with him on her project. All he knew is that it was going to involve animals in some way. He respected her privacy and didn't want to pry but he couldn't help but wonder what it could look like. Whenever the two would have banterous encounters, Aaron always tried to find a way to get more out of her than she wanted to share.

"Come on Max, tell me!" Aaron said as the two sat down at their desks. "I really wanna know" the laughter between the two was quiet but conveyed that they were having a good time.

"Aaron, no; you know I wanna keep it a secret, just like you do. I've left you alone so please stop asking" Aaron pouted in a playful manor as he looked back at Max before smiling. He had realised he had been defeated and decided to just leave it for now. He'd get it out of her in the end, he just had to say the right thing.

Their laughter died down as Kate entered the room and mate her way to her seat. She promptly ignored everyone as she hastily hurried across the room. Max expected her to have said something considering her and Aaron were her friends but there was nothing. Max figured she should probably strike up a conversation between them instead.

"Hey Kate, how are you doing?" She asked

"Fine, thanks Max" Kate replied without even turning around. Her tone was blunt and she sounded annoyed but also sad. Kate sounded like this at the start of the year when the bullying started but that had all stopped when she met Aaron. Her tone changed to that of someone who was happy and enjoying. Now she was just like she was before and it was unsettling.

Max shot a look at Aaron who held his arms up in a defensive manor. Max gestured to Kate with her head and Aaron promptly shrugged his shoulders and shook his head with a confused look on his face. Max had to believe that he had no idea why Kate was behaving the way she was and it was something that she wanted to figure out and put a stop to.

Mr Jefferson began the lesson as Aaron and Max sat there in silence; they didn't know what to say and the Kate situation wasn't making everything easier. They wanted to include her in group conversations but they didn't want to set her off. Aaron hated seeing her like this but there was nothing he could do about it. He was just as annoyed at her for being mad at him over the whole situation with the Vortex boys but that didn't mean he wanted a wall to be placed between them.

The lesson went on and Aaron and Max prayed everything would go on ok and that no one would sense Kate in her vulnerable state. But they were wrong. It seems that her friendship with Aaron had prevented her from receiving any form of abuse directly to her face but over the weekend, people were able to see that they were not on good terms and used this as an opportunity to be unnecessarily cruel.

"Now here we see a piece by The Masque; the anonymous photographer that has only ever been seen with a black ski mask over their face. No one can be sure that it is even the same person as before but their work speaks for itself" Mr Jefferson began as he showed the class a slide on the projector. "This singular red dot takes the centre of the canvas as all these black dots encircle it, getting closer. See how each dot has its own shadow and depth, all except for the red one. One singular dot surrounded by hundreds more"

"Kind of like Kate being surrounded by all the boys she can't keep her hands off" Victoria called out causing Aaron to shoot her a look that could crush a black hole as the entire class erupted in laughter.

Aaron could see out of the corner of his eye just how Kate had reacted to what was said. Her head had crashed down into her hands as her elbows rested on the table. A solemn tear drop hit the table but Aaron could tell there were more running down her face, trapped behind her hands. He was shocked at how Victoria had reacted to the whole situation even after they had discussed it only hours ago.

He had to correct his mistake and sort this; his heart ached at the sight of Kate like this and he wanted to do everything he could to make her feel better again. They were finally moving forward in their friendship and now it was in jeopardy. Aaron felt bad for upsetting Kate but at the same time couldn't understand what he did wrong. He spent time with people she didn't like, what was so wrong with that?! It was clear to everyone that he didn't want to hurt her, proof of this came from the lack of remarks and snide comments she had received since hanging out with Aaron. People respected him so much, they eased off her simply because she was friends with him.

Max just shot him a glare filled with daggers; she had seen how well the two were together and now for some reason, Kate wasn't talking to anyone and everything was going back to how it was almost a month ago. Kate was a lovely girl and the way she was around Aaron showed a different side of her that Max would rather see. It was healthier for her and Kate certainly seemed like a different person.

Aaron was visibly disturbed by the stick Kate had been receiving; Max had noticed it as he sat across from her in class. Aaron Heartfield was the one person nobody could read, the enigma no one could crack, but he was still human. Every now and then, he would slip up and let his guard down, especially with matters involving Kate. Max knew why, it was obvious; the way he felt about her could be seen from anyone who knew anything about people yet they both played it off like it was nothing.

Max wanted him to do something instead of just sitting there. It was obvious he wanted to and it was annoying her how he refused to move. Aaron just kept playing dumb, like he had no idea what she was on about. He didn't know what he could do in the middle of class, there was nothing to be done so he'd have to wait until it was over.

That's what Aaron did; he waited patiently for the lesson to end so he could do something about the situation he had found himself in. He was still worried about what Kate would say or how she'd react if he spoke to her so Aaron decided to tackle the source. As Victoria walked out of Mr Jefferson's class, Aaron pulled her to the side, behind the door.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he asked in a stern tone that was quiet enough to stop anyone from listening to their conversation.

"What do you mean?! You're the one who pulled me aside" Victoria responded as she brushed a stray piece of hair out of her eye.

"The way you were speaking to Kate, why the fuck are you still going on about shit that happened ages ago?"

"Oh lighten up you long haired wuss" Victoria replied with a coy smile. "I'm just having a little bit of fun"

"Yeah, at the expense of someone else!" Aaron's voice was louder now, his face's emotions were shifting to those of anger "You know, after last night, I thought you were different; goes to show I can be wrong sometimes. You're just a spoilt child, desperate for people's attention" as Aaron concluded, he walked away and decided to distract himself from women and the vast range of emotions they were causing him right now.

He looked at the time and realised he had a drama audition to get to. It had slipped his mind due to everything that had been going on so he wasn't really prepared. Aaron had read Hamlet a few rimes in his life so he was no stranger to the play or the context as well as one very specific monologue that related to him now more that he thought it would. He made his way down to the drama class and waited outside the door.

Dana was inside getting on with her audition and there was no one else around yet so Aaron assumed he'd be next. He wasn't worried; acting was something he had to do his whole life so why should now be any different. True, it was theatre so he'd have to sell himself but there was so many aspects of emotion he felt on a daily basis, it would be nice to get them out in the open.

Dana left the room smiling, Aaron figured she'd done well.

"Hey Dana, how'd it go?" he asked as he flicked his hair out of his eye.

"Hey Aaron!" She replied in a very bubbly tone. "I think I did really well, Mr Keaton loved it so I have a good feeling about this"

"Cool, who'd you go for?" Aaron asked.

"Ophelia; there's not many women in Hamlet so I wanna play the one who most likely everyone will go for" Dana replied, still with a big smile on her face.

"Awesome, well I hope you get it! Any idea when we'll find out?"

"Most likely on Friday's lesson, that's when we'll see Mr Keaton next and he'll have plenty of time to consider everyone's auditions by then" Dana said as she looked at her phone. "I gotta go meet Trevor, good luck Aaron, see ya later" Dana called back as she hurried away.

Aaron breathed hard and stepped inside the drama class. Mr Keaton was sitting behind his desk, scribbling away on some paper before looking up.

"Ah, Mr Heartfield, good to see you" He began. "What have you got for me today?"

"I'll be auditioning for the roll of Hamlet, quoting Act 5, scene 1 of the original text"

"Ah, brilliant; best of luck my boy"

Aaron relaxed himself for the monologue ahead; it was the only thing he could remember from Hamlet so it would have to do. He picked up a stress ball from off of Mr Keaton's desk, took an appropriate stance and began:

"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a thousand times, and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. —Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now to mock your own grinning? Quite chapfallen? Now get you to my lady's chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come. Make her laugh at that"

A solemn tear rolled down Aaron's cheek from his puffy eyes, the shimmer of the tears made them shine under the light as he finished. All the feelings he had for Kate were at the forefront of him in that moment; he would always joke and jest around her as a coping mechanism to hide how shy he was, they had been there to support each other a thousand times in the short weeks they had known each other, her lips, the one thing he desperately wanted to feel and how she wasn't smiling any more, there was no grinning to mock now.

Mr Keaton just stared back as he clapped his hands; he was impressed with Aaron's performance and how it flowed in perfect cadence. Aaron couldn't help but let out a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his head. He was just glad to get it over and done with. He figured he had done well, he just said exactly how he was feeling. He needed a chance to release all that was building inside of him.

"Well, it seems you have a hidden talent, Mr Heartfield. I'm surprised to see you're someone of culture. It's nice to see all that football you've been playing hasn't rattled your brain"

"Uh, thanks Mr Keaton, I guess" Aaron replied as he squinted his eyes. He was unsure if that was a compliment or an insult.

"Thank you for that surprise performance, you'll know your roll on Friday, just like everyone else"

Aaron nodded his head in understanding as he left the room. He was so tired, especially since it was Monday but he figured he had enough energy to chill with some of the guys. He pulled his phone out and sent Zack a text to find out what trouble he would be getting in later.

* * *

The world is a cruel place; millions of people suffer every day and there's nothing anyone can do. People so blindly follow the word of a god that has done nothing to prove of his existence. They believe that this malevolent being is responsible for creating all of us and loves us all equally but is content enough to sit back and let those millions of people suffer and die in antagonising pain.

Many people believe because there is nothing for them to do apart from hope for salvation. Others have experienced some form of divine intervention and feel that it would be stupid to disbelieve. But more often or not, the concept of religion is passed down through a family. Parents who've had it pushed down on them will push it down on to their children and the circle will continue. People believe because they are forced to by their family.

This is the case for Kate Marsh; she is stuck in between what she wants to believe and is fighting the turmoil of it inside herself. She was brought up believing in a higher power, to her the idea without one would be as stupid as a pedal-powered wheelchair. She feels this way because she has had a life of brainwashing from a strongly religious family. If she was left to grow up without this strong influence, she would probably be a totally different girl than the one she was now.

The only reason her faith wasn't shaken was because the idea of one to consider it would be seen as a heretic amongst her family and that was the last thing she wanted. She didn't want to be hated by the people who were supposed to love her even though half of them did already. She wanted to question why her?! Why was she the one who had to suffer this awful pain when she so clearly didn't deserve it? She asked why was the God who she'd worshiped all her life allowing her to feel so broken and alone, that she didn't want to be here any longer. Why had he given her a ray of light in the darkness, only to take it away again? The one thing she had grown to appreciate and care about, even come to love, was snatched away.

The night had been cold and lonely, just like she was used to. As Monday night turned into Tuesday morning, Kate decided what she would have to do.

* * *

Max felt that Tuesday was going to be just as bland and shit as Monday had been. She felt a form of lethargy that gave her the initial feelings of disinterest but there was also something else. Something gnawing at her, making her feel like something was going to happen. She'd been here for a while before most people had turned up, Victoria and Nathan had turned up around ten minutes ago and Max could just feel the crosshairs on her.

Aaron sauntered into class and sat in his seat as he grinned at Max from across the table. Max couldn't help but laugh at his goofy face as he pulled his hood down from off his head.

The class started to fill up with all sorts of people who shouldn't be there but there was no sign of Kate; Max was feeling uneasy as she had no idea as to where her friend could be. Victoria was chatting with Nathan and Hayden was drawing Taylor while Warren walked up to Aaron and started to chat with him. The rain hitting the windows was all Max could make out over all the idle chatter of the people in the classroom. The day was very grey and very depressing; just looking at the outside made Max upset.

Mr Jefferson walked in as the class bell rang.

"Okay, I know you love me, but if you're not in this class, beat it. Everybody else, please sit down" All the other students left as Mr Jefferson turned to face the class. "We have a lot to cover today, and so little time, as usual. I see all the usual suspects here... Anybody seen Kate Marsh?"

"I think everybody has seen Kate Marsh by now" Victoria piped in, getting a small chuckle from the rest of the class while Aaron shot her a death glare.

"Sounds like you're giggling about a video gone viral. Maybe it involves a student or a friend. I wonder how it would feel to have false images of yourself shot out all over the world for people to judge" Mr Jefferson was not amused by what Victoria had said. "Usually people need something to judge so they never take a good look at themselves. We can thank reality TV for some of that. In the end, we can only blame ourselves for participating... Speaking of participation, there are a few souls here who have yet to enter a photo in the contest. Like Max Caulfield, for example. Who I know can't wait to enter, right? I'm sure you read the syllabus like it was a Harry Potter book, so you must know today we're studying chiaroscuro; that beautiful word about the contrast between light and dark, the shadowplay that gives photography such...visual power. It's basic yin and yang. Black and white images are effective precisely because of their contrast. Although we don't technically "see" in monochrome-." He was cut off as Zach burst through the door.

"Yo, some crazy shit is going down at the girls' dorm, check it!" He shouted as he leaned on the door frame.

"Zachery, don't you ever come into my class room like that again!" Mr Jefferson shouted as all the students got up and began to leave their seats. He had lost control of the class and didn't intend to try and retake control of it. "Class dismissed" he muttered as he was left alone in his class room.

Max couldn't help but get a sinking feeling in her stomach as she made her way onto the cold, wet grounds of Blackwell. It had seemed the entire school had heard about what had happened and they were all gathered around the garden area, looking up at the lone figure on the roof of the girls' dormitory. Many of them had phones in hand as they laughed and giggled amongst themselves at what was unfolding. Max couldn't express how disgusted she was at the thought of people actually laughing at this situation.

As she weaved through the crowd with Aaron, she was able to guess who it was when he took off running for the door to the building. Kate was up on that roof. Max let out a gasp as she looked up in horror and when she did, time seemed to stop all around her. Confused, she looked around at everything as all sound was absent from her ears. Even the rain had stopped falling and was hanging stationary in the air.

Max wasn't gonna hang around to question the what's and why's, she was just going to get to the top of that roof and get her friend down. Any cold feeling she had once had from the weather was replaced by adrenaline and the pounding determination to stop all this. As she got to the door, she saw Aaron and David Madsen's frozen bodies running to get there. She hoped they would get there in time to help her.

The climb up the stairs had been one of the longest of her life as she just thought of everything un-freezing before she got there and the gasps of horror everyone would let out as they saw her plummet to the ground. It sent shivers down Max's spine as she ran through the dorms corridors to reach the roof. She panted with each step but she could rest when she knew Kate would be safe and off that roof.

Just as she opened the door, time seemed to start again. She could see Kate getting closer to the edge and she needed to stop her. "Kate!" Max cried out, causing the blonde haired girl to turn around.

Her scared face said it all; you could see the tears behind the rain on her face as well as her red lips shining through the bleak weather. Her eyes were tired and she just couldn't carry on any longer. Max could tell she wanted it all to end.

"Don't come any closer, Max!" Kate called out as she shuffled back, getting closer to the ledge. "Seriously, don't come near me, I will jump"

"OK Kate, I'm right here" Max's heart was in her throat as she stopped moving and just looked at Kate.

"Max, I know you care about me, you're the only person who does" Kate said as she looked down at the floor.

"You know that's not true, what about your family, they love you and don't want their oldest daughter to go out like this"

"Max, my family despise me! My mother would crucify me if she saw me again and my aunt wishes I'd have never been born! My father is so disappointed in me that he never speaks to me anymore and they won't even let my sisters speak to me either! "Kate was almost screaming through her tears. "You have no idea what it's like to be isolated, alone in a place where not even your own family want to speak to you"

Kate was dangerously close to the ledge and Max didn't like it one bit. She didn't realise the trauma Kate's her family had caused her.

"What about Aaron, all he does is talk about you; he spends all of his free time with you-hell, he even takes loads of pictures for you" Max had a horrified look on her face, she really wanted to help her and didn't want this to be the end.

"Aaron" Kate actually let out a meek smile. "He's been so kind to me, actually made people stop with the insults for a while. I love him Max, I always have. He just makes everything so much better and actually makes me feel like a person again"

"See Kate, there is hope this is going to all get better. I know he loves you too, it's obvious" Max replied as she stepped closer to Kate.

"Then why hasn't he said anything!" Kate stepped back in anger. "These last few days, he's discarded me and opened the door for people like Victoria to eat me alive. I was stupid to think things would actually get better"

Kate's words stung as Max stopped dead in her tracks. She thought this would have helped her, not made things worse.

"If you come down, I bet he would tell you how he feels! He's worried about you Kate and does care so much about you"

"You don't get it Max, how can I come back from this?! If I come with you now then everything will just go back to the way it was before! I'm in a nightmare ...unless I put myself to sleep. Then everybody at Blackwell can post pics of my body; I'm already on the internet forever. No wonder they call it a "web"; nothing can ever get out. Like my video... I wish I could go back in time and erase everything"

Kate was dangerously close to the edge, Max didn't know what to say to get her to come down. All the bullying had stopped for a while but now that it had started back up again, Kate must has relapsed, hard and thought this was the only way out of the pain she was feeling.

"Kate, you can't do this to all the people who care about you!" Max protested.

"You don't get it Max…nobody cares about me" her voice was absent of all emotion, like she had already made up her mind. Max couldn't have [repaired herself for what happened next. "Well…they will now" Kate said with a smile as she stepped back and off the ledge.

Max cried out as she reached into thin air, she was too late, Kate was gone. She heard the door crash open behind her as David and Aaron stumbled up onto the roof. Max looked back at Aaron who was down on the floor staring wide eyed back at her. When he saw the look on Max's face and that Kate was nowhere to be seen, he put two and two together and broke down. His cries echoed up on the roof and it was enough to send a shiver down anyone's spine. It was chilling and Max could only imagine how the poor boy felt.

Aaron's face was red as tears streamed down his face; his cries rang out for the whole school to hear. Max hugged him as he hobbled towards her; his long hair had curled up in the rain and was strewn messily across his forehead as he grabbed tightly onto Max. He reached out beyond her but there was no one there for him to hold.

The rain crashed around them as this Tuesday morning took a dreaded turn for the worst. A girl's life was taken from her and everyone was so shaken by it that there was a sombre silence that echoed throughout Blackwell.

 _#It's not fair, I found love, It made me say that, get back, you'll never see daylight if I'm not strong#_

* * *

The morning quickly passed into afternoon as Max walked out of the main concourse. She had nothing to say and didn't want to dwell on what had just happened. She had to find Aaron, he was unstable right now and he'd need someone there for him. David had to stop him from punching his locker after he came down off the roof. He blames himself for everything that had happened and Max didn't want him doing something he'd regret.

She found him sitting on the benches under the tree where he'd usually talk with Kate. His right hand was all bandaged up from the locker incident but he seemed calmer now. He was just sitting there, not moving, looking up at the tree leafs. Max just slowly approached him and sat next to him on the plank.

"Aaron, how you holding up?" She asked as he didn't take his view off of the sky.

"Max...hey. You were so brave to go up there and get her down; then again, I put her up there in the first place" Aaron sounded empty, he was hurting and Max could tell.

"Don't you dare think like that; you were always there for Kate, you wanted to help her more than anyone!" Max put her right arm around him and pulled him in for a hug.

"I loved her Max; I loved her and I never got to tell her" Aaron turned to look at her, his eyes were still red-he'd been crying recently. "Do you think if I had just told her instead of being such a fucking pussy, things would have been differently?"

Max knew the answer to that and she smiled as she went to let Aaron know she felt the same way. Max went to speak but no sound came out. She could see Aaron's eyes squinting as he looked at her.

"Max, you ok? Your nose is bleeding" Aaron said as he pointed at her.

Max wiped her nose and sure enough there was blood there. Her vision became clouded and her head started to pound. She could hear Aaron call her name as she placed her hands around her ears. She wanted to scream but no sound could escape her mouth. As everything went black, Max jerked awake as she lifted her head up. She looked around and was in Mr Jefferson's class just as Victoria and Nathan walked in. Max had no idea what was going on but she knew if everything was going to play out the way she thought it would, she'd have to go and save Kate's life.

 _ **A/N:-Just a quick one from me; rewind powers are not gonna be introduced, this entire thing was just a one off. Sorry if a lot of you had thought the story was going to end, in fact the next chapter will be the end of Act 1 in a 4 Act story. Yeah...that's how much is left.**_

 _ **I had my first hateful review ever the other day! I can tell you that feedback is valued just as much as everyone else, if not more so because it helps me fix the story and improve it. however, If you are gonna trash a character that I made up and had to do extensive research and thought process to make sure who he was and his back story etc is solid, then maybe don't read a story where an Original Character is the main protagonist. Creating an entire person from scratch is a hard process, especially in a story that is going to be this long. If you have nothing constructive to add, then do everyone a favour and fuck off?**_

 _ **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's a little darker than usually but it needed to happen. The hashtag bit is from the start of Kill yourself part 3 by $uicideBoy$, I know it's a bit morbid but I just felt the atmosphere of everything suited the opening of that song. As always, Follow the story, Favourite it and leave a Review on how much you love/hate it. Shit, I said I was gonna keep this short.**_


	15. Chapter 15-It's been a long time coming

Chapter 15:-It's been a long time coming

 _ **A/N:-A few people have been confused about the rewind powers thing so I'm gonna address it here. There is no form of rewind, Max had something akin to a vision of the future. I thought it would be best to use her as she was the one in the base game who had the rewind powers in the first place. It was so I could have a switch back in time so don't expect it to be used again. As you read the chapter it will all make sense a lot more.**_

Max stared at the room, wide-eyed. Everything was just like it was and she didn't feel like she was dreaming. She was having a mad sense of Deja-vu and didn't know how to explain it. She figured Aaron would be the only one who believed her if she told him and that was when she realised. She had to save Kate. Max looked at the time on her phone and realised she'd have around fifteen minutes before Kate would end up on that dorm roof. She had to find Aaron, if anyone had a chance of talking her down, it was him.

Without wasting a second, Max jumped out of her seat and headed out of Mr Jefferson's class. She knew Aaron would be heading into the main building if he wasn't here already so she had to find him as quick as possible. Max realised she'd have to find him and get him to get to Kate before she did anything drastic.

Max turned the corner of the classroom, she looked out along the long corridor; she had to find out if Aaron was inside or if he was yet to enter the concourse. Max hurried past Ms Grant's class and made her way to where his locker would be. If Aaron was inside, he'd most likely be there. Max breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the skinny, black haired boy leaning against his locker, talking with Luke who was laughing at whatever he had said.

Max hurried over to him, calling his name out as she got closer to:

"Aaron" she called as he turned around, flipping his hair to the side.

"Oh hey Max, how's it going?" he asked as he greeted her with a friendly smile.

"I need to talk to you, it's important" Max replied, Aaron could sense that there was something wrong. Her tone seemed strenuous, like she had something that seemed very important to say.

"Uh, ok" Aaron said as he turned back to face Luke. "I'll text you the details, lemme know how you get off?" Aaron called as he bumped fists goodbye with Luke and followed Max over to the doors of the Academy.

"It's about Kate" Max disclosed, Aaron's change in facial expression showed he was gonna take what she was gonna say a lot more seriously. "I think she's gonna really hurt herself and you need to stop her"

"Max, what do you mean, where is she?" Aaron was confused as he placed his hands on the smaller girls' shoulders. "Where is she?" Aaron asked, he wanted to help as much as possible.

"She's not gonna come to class, I think she's heading back to the dorm. You need to find her and just tell her how you feel" Max stressed as she prayed there would be enough time.

"What do you-" Aaron was cut off.

"She loves you, you idiot! It's blatantly obvious how you feel about her so go and tell her before she does anything stupid!"

Aaron let go of Max and exited the building, putting up his jacket hood as he did so. He had the look of someone determined and a determined Aaron Heartfield was exactly what Kate needed.

Aaron ran across the school grounds as rain crashed around him; his converse were wet from the grass and his skinny jeans were sticking to his legs. None of that mattered, the only thing that mattered was finding Kate and making sure she was safe. Aaron headed to the girls dorm and as he crested around the gate, he saw a blonde haired girl entering the building. Her legs were moving quickly as her left hand covered her crying eyes. Without thinking twice, Aaron ran as fast as his skinny legs would carry him.

When he reached the door, her threw it open and ran up the stairs. His heart was panting and his lungs wanted him to stop and get some air back into them but he was focused on other matters. Adrenaline pumped through him as he reached the top of the stairs; Aaron figured Kate would be in her room as he ran down the corridor but looked at the end of it when something caught his eye. He saw the door to the roof close and felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He took a deep breath as he ran over to the doors and looked up. The door to the roof at the top of the stairs was wide open, it had recently been opened, and Aaron was out of time.

He lunged up the stairs in desperation, nearly falling as he reached the top. There, in front of him, was Kate who was slowly getting closer and closer to the edge of the roof. Aaron just shouted out, he had to keep her from doing something he couldn't fathom to think about.

"Kate!" He screamed, causing the shy girl to turn around. Her face was one of pain and anguish and it made Aaron want to cry. Her lipstick shined behind all the water on her face and her eyes were red from crying. Her tears were unmistakeable, even as the raindrops landed on her face.

"Aaron, what are you doing here?" She shouted back; her voice was plagued with emotion.

"I never want to see you hurt, Kate and I can't live with the thought of you hurting yourself!" He never thought things would get this bad for Kate, the fact that he indirectly played a part in it made him feel even worse.

Aaron had no idea of the masses of people that were converging below them, looking up in anticipation of what might happen next. Masses of Blackwell students had congregated in front of the girls' dorm as they looked up and saw the back of Kate, who was standing up on the roof. They were able to make out that she was talking to someone but they had no idea who. The initial shock had worn off due to them knowing there was someone up there trying to talk her down. Max had already guessed it was Aaron and had alerted David Madsen. The two of them quickly made their way through the crowd, followed by Principle Wells as they made their way to the building that Kate was currently standing on.

"Why do you care anyway, you haven't bothered with me when those vultures decided it would be time to make my life hell again" Kate took a step back, Aaron felt is heart sink, he knew it was time to be honest.

"Kate, why would I willingly let anything happen to you?! I kicked the shit out of three guys who wanted to hurt you. I spend every second I have with you, I invited you to a party, knowing you were still scared of them because I knew I wouldn't let anything happen to you. You are what my Autumn Portfolio is about, it's about YOU" Kate couldn't help but listen to what Aaron had to say. The cold rain was everywhere and the wind was blowing it all ways that were unpleasant but all she could see was this boy in front of her, pouring his heart out.

"What are you trying to say, Aaron?" Kate's voice was still emotionless, little did she know what warm feeling Aaron's next words would bring to her.

"I love you, Kate; I have for a long time. I was just afraid to say anything because I didn't want you to get scared or worry. I know it was stupid of me but I wanted to wait for the right time but I realise that it's now. I may not see God as you do, but I believe he put me on this roof for a reason. He put me here so I could tell you I love you. Kate Marsh, I love you!"

Aaron let tears stream down his face as he said the words he had been holding in for so long. It felt like a massive weight was lifted off of his shoulders as he exhaled. His cards were out on the table and he just prayed it was enough to get this girl that he cared so much for to realise that there were people out there who cared deeply for her.

"I just hope, you'll love me to" Aaron said with bated breath as he extended his left hand. He wanted to grab her and pull her away from the edge so very desperately but realised it had to be her choice, it needed to be her choice.

Kate continued to cry, continued to let tears escape her eyes as she absorbed all the words Aaron had just said but for the first time since all of this started, they were tears of joy.

"I didn't think there was anything that would get me off this roof" Kate began "Then you said the three words I didn't realise I needed to hear"

Aaron let out a soft smile as he slowly inched forward. Kate looked back at him and slowly let out a smile of her own. It was a moment that had been coming for a long time, a moment that everyone saw happening, Kate extended her right hand as she shuffled forward. Aaron just watched with baited breath, he was so close to keeping her safe, he couldn't blow it now. Kate placed her fingers into Aaron's and he pulled her into a warm embrace as soon as their palms touched. He held her tightly as if he was keeping the entire world out.

Kate held onto Aaron as she buried her head in his neck; she was safe. It was a feeling she hadn't truly felt in a long, long time but now that she was here, with Aaron, things were looking up. The cold, painful emotions she had been feeling were replaced by a welcoming warmth that was something that she needed. The two stayed locked in their embrace for a bit longer before finally separating and staring back at each other. Aaron could see the clouded pain being washed away from behind Kate's loving eyes and it made him smile.

"There's something else I've wanted to do and I'm gonna be damned if I'm gonna wait this time" Before Kate could say anything, Aaron had planted his lips against hers; it wasn't what Kate was expecting but it was magical. She kissed him back with just as much enthusiasm as he had kissed her.

This boy had been there for her when no one else was. He showed her that good people do exist in this world and he got up on that roof to make sure she didn't leave it. She was almost exactly where she wanted to be in life and as she kissed the only thing that mattered to her, she felt as if time itself had stopped.

* * *

Principle Wells paced back and forth in his office; this whole situation would have to be dealt with in the right way. Aaron, Max and David were in front of him as he turned to begin saying what he had to say.

"Now this is a very serious matter" he began "Miss Marsh is with her parents now and they will be looking at checking her into Arcadia General within the next week"

"There's nothing wrong with her" Aaron interjected as he raised his right hand to his forehead.

"Is there something you wish to say, Mr Heartfield?" Principle Wells asked as he stroked his chin.

"She was bullied up on that roof; she'd have the piss taken out of her for days on end while you all sat around doing nothing" Aaron was easily frustrated, as his tone suggested.

"Aaron is right, Principle Wells" Max joined in "Kate was dosed at a Vortex Club party and people filmed her doing things she wouldn't normally do"

"Hmmm, I have heard reference into this video in question and it is possible we may have been negligent in the matter" Principle Wells added.

"Negligent!" Aaron called out "No one did anything to stop that bitch Victoria and her heathens from openly humiliating her and she could have died!"

"Aaron, we are all grateful for the part you played in saving Miss Marsh's life but please refrain from insulting other students"

"But it's ok for them to insult her?! I'm not even gonna comment on that" Aaron just leaned back in his chair and shook his head.

"If I may, Sir" David chimed in as he uncrossed his arms "I've been looking into drug trafficking on the campus and it is highly possible Kate Marsh was dosed. By who, I can't say but I am working on the matter"

All the answers were out there, the pieces just needed to be put together. How long that would take, who could say. All that mattered was Kate was safe and everything would change accordingly.

Aaron left Principle Wells' office with a scowl on his face. Max followed him, trying to engage in conversation to take his mind off of it.

"Aaron, there's nothing you or anyone can do; it's done and we should all just be glad that Kate is safe" Max stated as they walked out of the reception and into the main corridor.

"There is, I can find out who the fuck dosed her" Aaron stopped and turned to face Max. "I don't know how long it will take but I will find out who the asshole is and I will punch his fucking head all the way to Iowa" Aaron was tense and Max knew he didn't wanna get angry.

"Ok, I get that but Kate would want you to take it easy for the rest of the day. Calm down, take your mind off of this and we'll go visit her in the hospital tomorrow, ok?"

Aaron just sighed and took a breath: "You're right Max, it's just the fucking bureaucratic bullshit laws of society people are branding her with. 'She's ill' and 'there's something wrong with her', fuck off will you?! There's nothing wrong with that girl ad it pisses me off how people are so easy to ignore all the bullying in the world"

The two of them just revelled in the silence for a few seconds before Max hugged Aaron in an effort to calm him down. "Chloe's taking me for taco bell in few, wanna come with?" Max asked as she retreated from her hug.

"I'd like that, thanks for looking out for me, Max" Aaron smiled as he exhaled again.

"Today has been hella crazy" max stated as the two left the halls of Blackwell.

* * *

Marcus walked into the large room that he was so used to seeing, the large, decorated fireplace to his right was a welcome warmth that would have felt odd if it was anything less than warm. The smell of the burning logs, mixed with the aroma of the old paper pages of the books that littered the shelves all around the room was a sent that was so unique that Marcus wished he could spend longer here…just so long as he was alone.

He approached the ancient desk that was in front of him, taking in the scratches and chips in the wood, some were more recent than others. The top of the desk had the wood encroach in about 2 inches all around the desk before a large green square of leather covered the majority of it. It was old and faded, just like the wood but brought colour to something that was ultimately dull. It had its fair share of marks but most where covered up by files and binders that were in the process of being read.

Behind it was a large chair, composed of red leather with a dull brass frame. It was in better condition than the desk but was till as old. The figure that was sitting in it was obscured by shadow, all that could be seen was her right hand that tapped impatiently on the table with abnormally long and sharp nails. Her clothes were covered by the folder that she was reading in her left hand.

Everyone who knew Marcus, knew him to be a fearless, aggressive person who was reserved and calculating at the same time. He was always able to execute his mission to the highest standards and was the Beta for a reason. But if there was anything that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up…it was the woman sitting before him…Alpha.

"This is everything you've been able to gather in the last few weeks?" She said from the other side of the table, not looking up from the file. Her voice was low and reeked of someone who was not amused.

"Yes, ma'am-however an incident has happened today involving Kate Marsh. She attempted suicide but was stopped by the target" Marcus was used to dealing with her by now but anyone could sense the uneasy-ness in his voice.

"Hmmm, I see" Alpha replied.

"Request permission to continue to observe due to these new circumstances?"

"We'll see, it all depends on how our newest Omega is doing. If everything is green across the board with her, you may proceed.

"Thank you ma'am" Marcus replied before turning around to leave.

"Marcus, don't fuck this up. You know I detest failure but this is the one you cannot afford to fail" Her tone was the same as it had been, she was an incredibly hard woman to read.

Marcus just bowed his head in understandment and quickly left the room. The Goosebumps all over his body were telling him he'd had enough.

* * *

Kate's hands shook as she wrote out the list of things for Max to do in her absence. Kate would have never left Alice on her own but she knew that Max would take good care of her. Taking care of a rabbit was something that gave Kate a purpose; she enjoyed and took pride in looking after others who would have a harder life than her, it gave her a complete feeling, a feeling one usually gets from finishing a jigsaw or getting 100% on a test.

She had never envisioned herself going to hospital, if anything, she figured she would be dead by the time she got there. She was so sure her life was at its end and she had accepted it. She didn't like it but would have rather the small instance of pain and then have everything be over than endure day after day of pain. She had come to terms with it and ready to take the next step in her existence, it just turns out it was a different one than what she was expecting.

Aaron had shown her the light that she didn't think existed in the world anymore; for a dude who always dressed so dark, you couldn't help but associate him with the light. He was just so kind and always wanted to help people, sure he could be a bit extra at times but that just made you appreciate him in small doses and look forward to the next time you saw him. He was someone who wanted nothing of anyone, other than for them to be happy and smile.

Anytime Kate thought about him, she would always think about him trying to make everyone smile. If he saw someone who looked like they were down, he would chew their ear off until he made them smile. Whether he was making them laugh by being funny or by brightening their day, he was just thoughtless. He was always going out of his way to make sure she was ok and as Kate placed her bag on her shoulder, she let out a faint smile.

Her shaky hands held her phone as she read the text he had just sent her:

 _It's total bullshit that they think you need to go to a hospital! I'll be there to visit you tomorrow if you're cool with that? Xx_

They weren't technically official but it was going that way, Kate could see that Aaron would want her to be comfortable before he proposed any form of going steady. Her parents weren't the type of people to talk about this to and seeing as this was the first time she had seen them in a long time, she just wanted to enjoy their company again. Hospital was the next place for Kate, hopefully she won't be there long but at least she would have a boy waiting for her when she got out. He wasn't just any boy, this would be the start of something that everybody would love.

 _ **A/N:-OK, Act 1 is officially done! Act 2 is gonna be a lot more wholesome and cuter and shit but it's gonna carry over the plot points that have been present in this Act. It's a 4 Act story so yeah, there's a lot more to be added. I don't plan to leave a lot of time between this upload and the next one but I've been ill as fuck for the last week and I'm still not 100% but this chapter needed to come out to bring Act 1 to a close.**_

 _ **As always, Follow and Favourite the story…or me…or both, be the hero I'd love you to be. I would really appreciate a Review as it would let me know how you guys like things and what you'd like to change going forward. I just wanna make this story as good as it possibly can be as we still have a hell of a lot more left to go. Advertise the shit out of the story if you want, it'd mean a lot to me and the more demand there is for it, the faster I can pump chapters out. Thank you for making it to the end of the first Act, see you all in Act 2!**_


	16. Chapter 16-Welcome Back

Act 2

Chapter 16-Welcome back

The wind's gentle breeze blew the dead leaves along the stone path that was outside the boys' dormitories. The sun was still high in the sky on this Friday morning and the familiar orange glow of Arcadia Bay was washed all over the stones and grass, covering all it touched in its warm embrace. Aaron sat on the bench outside the building as he scrolled through his phone, letting time pass him buy. He wasn't interested in doing anything, just relaxing for a while before he faced the long night ahead of him.

Kate had been in the hospital since Tuesday and he had already visited her a number of times over the last few days. Aaron didn't like the idea of her being in the hospital but he'd rather be there than in the ground. It was the lesser of two evils and he had to accept it; lucky for him, he had friends to keep him company.

Max walked up to him, drawing his eye; Aaron waved back in response, taking his head out of his phone.

"What's up Max?" he asked as she stood in front of him.

"Nothing much, just checking in, how you doing?" Max replied, giving Aaron a warm smile.

"Getting by, same as usual. Kate says thanks for the flowers you dropped off yesterday, she really likes them" Aaron stood up and walked away from the dorm with Max and headed for the main campus.

"Are you going to see her later?" Max asked.

"Yeah, I was thinking about heading down for two-ish"

"Mind if I tag along"

"Sure, it'd be nice to have company for a change" Aaron replied with a smile. "I still don't like the idea of her being in hospital, there's nothing wrong with her"

"I agree with you one hundred percent" Max said as she looked at the time on her phone. "There's nothing we can do to about it now apart from make sure she's treated right when she comes out"

Aaron grumbled as the two continued to walk. He was glad that people had finally realised what situation Kate was in and offered their help, even if it was only because she was about to kill herself. He had another fight lined up as he always did on Friday so he wanted to see her while he wasn't all bloody and bashed up.

"Mr Keaton should have posted the cast list for Hamlet, wanna go see what we got?" Max suggested, leading Aaron to nod in agreement as the two headed for the double doors of Blackwell's main building.

Aaron hadn't planned on getting a big part, he just chose drama as he had to take an extracurricular activity and this was the one he could stomach the most. He was only there because he had to be, not because he actually gave a damn.

As he flipped his hair to the side, he thought about football again; Zach's offer was solid enough and he probably could get Aaron a place on the team. If not for his own doubts, Aaron probably would have accepted the offer then and there. He just didn't see his build as one for Varsity football.

At least he knew he was good at playing football, so that would be more of a reason to take the offer. With drama, he had no idea what he was able to do and what he'd suck at. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place and he really couldn't be bothered to figure out a way out of everything, especially with everything going on with Kate and his next fight.

Max was in the same boat; she was a very shy girl and performing in front of a large crowd wasn't something she saw herself being able to do. However, there was nothing else she saw fitting for her and since she had Chloe back in her life, she was feeling more confident and figured this would be the next step in coming out of her shell.

In an ideal world, Max would be happy with whatever role she was cast in and would play it to the best of her abilities. She just knew she'd have to deal with the bitchyness of everyone and all of the judgmental comments. It wasn't something she was looking forward to but hoped with Kate's attempted suicide fresh in everyone's minds, that she would escape the cruelness of everyone in the room.

The two made their way along the corridor and turned into where the drama class was located; there on the closed door was the cast list. It was certainly a shock to see who was cast in the titular role as well as the supporting roles. The crowds of people all checking in on the list all voiced their distaste and annoyance with the choices as most people would. Aaron and Max had to make their way through the small crowd of people to see what they have been left with.

 _The Tragedy of Hamlet; Prince of Denmark_

 _Cast_

 _Hamlet –Aaron Heartfield_

 _Ophelia-Maxine Caulfield_

 _Claudius-Hayden Jones_

 _Horatio-Nathan Prescott_

 _Polonius-Evan Harris_

 _Gertrude-Dana Ward_

 _Gertrude's Lady in waiting-Juliet Watson_

 _Cornelius and Voltimand-Justin Williams and Trevor Yard_

 _Laertes-Luke Parker_

 _Lady's at court-Victoria Chase, Taylor Christiansen_

 _The Ghost of Hamlet's Father-Warren Graham_

Aaron and Max just stared at the door with their mouths hung ajar; they were probably more shocked than Victoria at the roles they had been cast in and it showed on their faces. Victoria had stormed off when she realised she didn't have the part she wanted but that could be expected from her. Justin and Trevor were just happy that their names were placed next to each other on the sheet of paper.

Dana had roped Trevor into taking drama and he in turn roped Justin into it. The two of them had no interest but as the lessons went on, they found themselves enjoying a lot more than they thought they would. Warren was there mainly due to Max but also because he was good friends with Aaron and Luke was there because even though he wouldn't let anyone close to him, he was a vivid thespian. You wouldn't think it by looking at him but it's true, he loved acting.

"Wow, this is uh…yeah" was all Aaron could say as he looked at the piece of paper that was stuck to the door in front of him.

"Yeah, this is a shock" Max replied as the two stood dead still as the crowd dispersed around them.

"Well I guess we're both shocked by this" Aaron jested as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I honestly didn't think I'd get Hamlet...like...at all"

"The same could be said about me and Ophelia, I didn't even audition!" Max exclaimed as the two turned around and walked back up the hallway. The shock was still fresh in their minds, they both had landed the two lead roles that they had no intention of getting.

Aaron wasn't all that bothered by it, it just meant there was something for him to set his mind to. Learning lines, conveying dialogue etc, it was all very exciting to be honest. Max on the other hand wanted to be more confident but didn't see how this role would help her. It was too much too fast but she figured she didn't have a choice. The coming weeks would be very interesting indeed.

Kate's hospital room was what you would expect all hospital rooms to be like; clean and smelling of hygienic disinfectant. She had no idea how everything had come to this but she was alive and she was very grateful for it. The whole situation was stupid and Kate regretted ever putting herself and other people up on that roof. It was over and she cold move on, get better. She had started drawing happy things again, not the doom and gloom that she had been creating these past few weeks.

Flowers adorned the corner of her room as well as several cards wishing her on a speedy recovery. It was a shame to see how many people cared AFTER she was bullied up to the roof. Kate was too kind to see it that way and just saw the darkest part in her life as being officially over. She had friends, her family back and now Aaron; her light at the end of the tunnel. This was a new situation for Kate and she wasn't sure how to act; she had never been in a relationship before and the last time she saw Aaron was from the back of the ambulance as he waved goodbye to her.

The one thing she knew however was she loved him more than anything. The feeling she had inside her whenever she thought about him, that she was feeling right now always made her smile as well as feel extraordinarily happy. In Kate's eyes, he was her guardian angel sent by God himself to protect her.

As if by magic, her door opened and his little head popped around it. The two smiled at each other before Aaron entered the room fully, allowing Max to come into view. Kaye was happy to have two of her favorite people there together. She got up as Max hurried to give her a hug while Aaron placed his hands in his jacket pocket and flipped his hair to the side, out of his right eye.

"You guys!" Kate exclaimed as she withdrew from Max. "You came to see me"

"Of course, I miss my favourite girl" Aaron replied as he pulled her into a tight embrace and planting a soft kiss on her cheek. This made Kate blush as she pulled him in closer.

"How are you feeling, Kate?" Max asked her friend, she certainly looked better.

"I feel great, thanks Max" Kate said with a smile on her face as she held Aaron's left hand with her right, interlocking their fingers. "I feel even better now you guys are here"

"How's your family doing, they treating you well?" Max asked as she read some of the cards that Kate had handed her.

"Oh yes, they've been really supportive of me which I didn't expect…I'm glad"

"You're their daughter Kate, they should have helped you from day one" Max called, she wasn't impressed with how Kate's family ostracized her.

"I'm just glad you've allowed them back into your life, not many people would be as kind as you" Aaron joined in, lifting Kate's chin up with his right hand, causing her to smile some more.

"Actually, they are so grateful that you saved me that they want you to come to dinner when I get out of hospital" Kate said to her now shocked boyfriend.

Aaron didn't really know how to reply; he was frozen in place. Of course he'd love to meet Kate's parents, he just didn't think he was the type of guy she'd want to bring home to the family.

"I uh, yeah" Aaron stuttered. "That would be great"

Kate smiled even brighter when she heard Aaron wanted to meet her family. Her parents were so grateful for what he had done for Kate, they needed to express their gratitude in some way. Kate was just happy her and Aaron were official and bringing him home would be a nice thing they could do together.

"Well it was nice to see you guys but I need to take my medication now" Kate said as she looked at the clock on the wall. "Feel free to visit any time you want"

"We will, Kate; I just hope you get back to school soon. Everything just isn't the same without you and everyone misses you. Max replied as she hugged her friend goodbye.

"I'll text you later ok, I love you" Aaron whispered as he hugged her goodbye.

"I love you too" Kate said back to her boyfriend. Things just didn't seem real.

Someone who actually loves her, someone who just wants to look after her and spend every second with her. After being on her own for so long, it was nice to have someone she could share these feelings with. She couldn't wait to be free from this hospital and live her relationship to the fullest.

 _ **A/N:-Ok, a few things I need to say; first off, so very sorry for such a long upload time. My old laptop refused to work and eventually fell in half so I had to but a new one. It took some time but as soon as I had it, I went straight to work on this chapter. I do apologise for the length, I just wanted to get the start of Act 2 out to all of you who have been waiting patiently.**_

 _ **The second thing I wanted to say is I've made a mistake with Aaron's age throughout the story. I've referred to him as being seventeen when he is in fact eighteen. My understanding of the American education system was off and I'm sorry it took this long to correct.**_

 _ **I'm keen to see how you all felt about Act 1 and what you'd like to know about the direction I'm taking the story in. Please Review, that's what it's there for, I wanna make the story as good as possible. A follow and favourite is always appreciated and makes me a happy bunny. And that's chapter 16 done, the next one is gonna be a nice wholesome filler of what has happened since Kate has been in hospital so let's see how that goes. All I can say is look forward to chapter 18-Blackwell: After dark…that's gonna be a whole lot of crazy you don't wanna miss.**_


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